OMERS eyeing UT discoms, power transmission assets

Canadian pension fund Ontario Municipal Employees’ Retirement System (OMERS) is eyeing the electricity distribution companies (discoms) of Union territories (UT), and power transmission assets as part of its strategy to capture value across India’s power sector, Prateek Maheshwari, managing director, Asia, OMERS Infrastructure, said in an interview.

In line with the growing interest in India’s infrastructure space from large pension funds, OMERS is also eyeing digital infrastructure and opportunities in businesses such as towers, fibre and data centres.

With net assets of over C$105 billion, OMERS had recently announced its plan to purchase a 19.4% stake in NYSE-listed Azure Power Global Ltd for $219 million. It is also making aggressive bets in India’s infrastructure space and invested $121 million for a 22.4% stake in IndInfravit Trust, which has a portfolio of 13 operational road concessions. “The overarching theme is definitely that, as an organisation, we want to increase our exposure to Asia, and India forms a very key component of the overall Asia strategy,” Maheshwari said.

In May, OMERS Administration Corp. was among a few pension funds to receive income tax exemption for infrastructure investments in India before March 2024.

Some of the major Canadian investors in India are Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and Brookfield Asset Management.