QIA Plans $10bn Indian Investment

Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) is looking to invest up to $10 billion in India every year, its executive director Hussain Al Abdulla has said.

But the sovereign wealth fund is waiting for a change in the country’s government policies, Indian newspaper The Economic Times quoted him as saying.

“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,” said Abdulla, who is in India as part of a Qatari delegation.

“Government policies need to change,” he added.

In the last five years, QIA has invested around $500 million in India’s stock markets, and more than $30 billion in Germany and over $6 billion in China, the report said.

“I am interested in anything that is consumer-focused and that yields profits,” said Abdulla.

“It [India] 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,” he added.

QIA, which invested $29 billion globally last year, has offices in Paris, China and India.