London, March 14 (IANS): Britain-based industrialist G.P.Hinduja was presented the inaugural NRI Foundation Award by visiting Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here.

"The India-UK partnership is furthered by a very strong 1.5 million British Indian community, which has come into this land, adopted it as its own," Jaitley said at the awards ceremony on Friday night.

Hinduja, the co-chairman of the Hinduja Group, was honoured for establishing a global business presence across various sectors. His philanthropic works in Britain and India were also recognised.

The other NRI Foundation Award winners were the Asian Media and Marketing Group, Lloyds Banking Group's Head of Responsible Business Kamel Hothi and the British government's Dealmaker for India Alpesh Patel.

The three Hinduja brothers - Srichand, Gopichand and Prakash - figured in the Bofors scandal that came out in 1986. In 2005, the Delhi High Court dismissed the allegations against them.