Kuwait wealth fund eyes big investment in India

Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), one of the five largest sovereign wealth funds of the world, is keen to triple its investments of $5 billion in India by entering areas such as infrastructure, airports and highways, people familiar with developments said on Tuesday.

The Kuwait government has also proposed to India the possibility of joint investments in third countries, including in the Far East and Eastern Europe, in real estate, housing and free economic zones, the people said.

The proposal was made when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj visited Kuwait over October 30-31, they added.

KIA, which is the world’s oldest sovereign wealth fund with assets worth more than $590 billion under management, has invested about $2 billion in India since 2017 and its officials are keen to make further investments because of the rapid growth of the Indian economy despite some hurdles created by the country’s procedures, the people said.

“The problems created by rules has led to some Kuwaiti investments going to Singapore and Malaysia, even though India is a more favourable destination,” said a person who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding KIA is keen to triple its investments in India.

The Kuwaiti leadership cited the example of their country’s joint investment of $7 billion with Japan in a refinery in Vietnam while proposing similar investments to India.

First Published: Feb 05, 2019 23:33 IST