If you WERE able to open an account in India whilst living in the UK, you would not be protected by British law.
However, you can have a little of "the best of both worlds".

info available from links etc related to this article
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/savings-and-banking/article.html?in_article_id=514139&in_page_id=7

Thank you very much for the link. Nice to know the interest rate can pay for the next trip, well, at least the food anyway

You can open a bank account in India. If you are a british citizen and not of Indian origin the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) rules state that you can only pay foreign currency into it and those funds can only be drawn in India as rupees. You have to furnish the bank with UK address details including a latest utility bill. Also you have to supply details and proof of an Indian contact address, including a utility bill for that address. So obviously you need to be paying that bill or know someone well enough for them to give you a bill which they have to sign.
The account they will give you is a current type account with an ATM card and cheque book, the ATM card can not be used to purchase goods in shops or on line. The rate of interest for this type of account is around the 3.5% mark currently.
We opened an account this season and checked these details at 3 banks, we chose the ICICI Bank as of the branches we visited they seemed the easiest to deal with. But even with them it was not straight forward, as we had to go back 3 times to sign more papers.

Thanks for the info. I regularly saw 7 and even 8% interest advertised although I don't know the terms.

Paul.

AXIS bank allow you to open a current account.
You need passport and Driving Licence to open it.
If you keep a minimum of 5000rps in the account there are no fees.
You get an atm card to withdraw money at an AXIS bank.
There is another option that costs but allows you to withdraw from other banks.