Turban-charged Ken in India

The Mayor spoke minutes after completing his first engagement on arriving in Delhi - the laying of a wreath at the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, who led India to independence in 1947.

Tories on the London Assembly believe the trip - with a party of around 80 "ambassadors" and 20 aides - will cost £740,000 of public money.

But mayoral aides say each new job created by a foreign firm boosts the capital's economy by around £115,000, while the 65 business people who make up the bulk of the delegation are all paying for themselves.

Taxpayers will be footing the bill for some of the entourage. For example, performance poet Kat Francois and performers Stomp have been paid to travel to India while TV presenter Myleene Klass is not being paid for her appearance but her flight and accommodation will be covered by the Mayor's office.

Mr Livingstone said: "Any mayoral candidate or any newspaper editor who thinks I shouldn't be on this trip is very bad news for London. Those chickens would come home to roost in the decades to come.

"You only have to bring six jobs to London to recover the cost of this trip. I think we will bring several thousand."

The Evening Standard understands the cost of the trip is £740,000 - of which £50,000 is for flights and accommodation. The £690,000 remainder is the cost of arranging the 42 events on the itinerary, including a London "showcase" concert in Mumbai featuring stars from Stomp and Klass.

Mr Livingstone said it was vital for London to share in the success of the booming Indian economy, which grew by 9.2 per cent last year, making it the second fastest developing major economy in the world. He is opening two offices in India - in Delhi and Mumbai - with the aim of replicating the effect of the two offices he opened last year in China. Their presence had resulted in "expressions of interest" from firms in locating in London doubling from 40 to 80 a year, he said.

He said his sister, who works in information technology, was typical of the new relationship Britain had with India. "Whenever I phone her up she is off to India," he said. "That is the sort of world of the future.

"Eventually we won't ever see firms as nationally based. They will just be global. Anything that raises barriers is a real threat."

He said action was needed to tackle the "sheer hassle" Indians experienced obtaining UK visas and the "long immigration queues" they faced at Heathrow. "India's incredible growth is something we wish to be part of. I'm not one of those politicians who believe the West should raise barriers against India. We should be making sure we grow with India."

After paying his respects and scattering flower petals beside the eternal flame at the memorial, he was presented with a bust of Gandhi, which he promised to put on display in City Hall.

He then visited the Akshardham Hindu temple - a sister monument to the Swaminarayan temple in Neasden - and the Nizamuddin Dargah, the oldest Muslim mosque in Delhi. At the mosque, the Mayor and his party sat cross-legged and listened to religious music, having removed their shoes.