NEW DELHI: Qatar Investment Authority, the Gulf state’s sovereign wealth fund, is looking to invest up to $10 billion in India every year, according to its executive director Hussain Al Abdulla.
The authority, whose investment portfolio includes iconic brands like Harrods, Sainsbury, Volkswagen, LVMH and Porsche, had invested $29 billion globally last year. “I am interested in anything that is consumer focus and that yields profits,” said Abdulla, who is in India as part of the delegation accompanying Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani.
Outside Qatar, the authority has opened offices only in Paris, China and India. This Abdulla said reflected the weightage his company gave to India as an investment destination.
However, in the past five years the authority has invested only about $500 million in India and that too in the stock markets. In comparison, it has invested more than $30 billion in Germany and over $6 billion in China.
“Even on a yearly basis, I am willing to invest up to $10 billion here,” Abdulla said, adding that Qatar was waiting for the Indian government to facilitate foreign investors like QIA to take up huge projects. “I don’t understand this business environment very well. It is a little complicated when it comes to issues like regulation and relationship between private sector and the government,” he said, adding, “Government policies need to change.” Abdulla is pinning his hopes on India’s huge middle-class and the consumption growth in the market.
“It is a very promising market. The size of the middle-class is not less than 300 million, almost as big as Europe,” he said. “The government needs to attract foreign investors in different cities to improve the standard of living. But a lot of de-regulation needs to happen. A lot of efficiency needs to come in.”
During his visit, Abdulla met a number of Indian businessmen including Ratan Tata, Cyrus Mistry, Sunil Mittal, Naveen Jindal, PRS Oberoi, Azim Premji and Malvinder Singh. The delegation also meet UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma.