The government is planning a mega global investment conference this year that promises to bring together the who’s who of the global investment world.
The summit is hoping to draw in the top 100 institutional investors and leaders from the top 100 Fortune 500 companies in a bid to showcase India’s economic potential, investment opportunities, and facilitate global partnerships.
India’s own Davos’
“This could be India’s own Davos,” said a senior official from a global consultancy firm. “A platform where global asset managers and private equity players come together to hear first-hand from the government, experience, and learn how India has changed and the potential it offers.”
The government floated a tender last month for a strategic knowledge partner for organising the day-long event that was originally scheduled to be held on March 4 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. This has been rescheduled to later this year given time constraints ahead of the elections, said a person in the know.
An email sent to India Invest, the investment promotion and facilitation agency of the government, did not get a response.
“The conference will be about relationship-building and giving global investors an audience directly with the policymakers,” said Siddharth Shah, Senior Partner, Khaitan & Co.
Shah believes investors stand to gain insight into the priority areas of the government, which can help define their India strategy more sharply. At the same time, the conference will give the government an opportunity to get feedback from investors to address issues on the policy and regulatory sides.
First attempt
While the government has invited global investors in the past, this is perhaps the first time an attempt is being made to bring the investors together formally and on such a large scale, according to Shah. Last year, for instance, the finance ministry invited a bunch of private equity and global LPs for informal discussions.
“The objective would be to get investors to relook at India’s weightage in the emerging market basket. Any meaningful change could result in billions of dollars of additional flows in the form of foreign direct investment as well as portfolio flows,” said the official quoted above.
India currently has a weightage of 17.9 per cent in the MSCI EM Index, second after China’s 25.4 per cent.
Global funds have geographical and asset class weightages and allocate a small percentage of their overall AUM to emerging markets. A lot of these funds now don’t want to invest in China or invest much less than earlier. They are now faced with a choice of downsizing the EM basket, shifting their monies to the next most attractive market, which is India, or doing a combination of both.
A host of foreign investors have recently signalled their intent to ramp up investment in India. Advent International, for instance, has said it is looking to deploy $5-10 billion in India over the next five years.
“Political stability is a draw for large institutions. Infrastructure continues to attract global capital. Consolidation in the healthcare and fintech spaces will create opportunities. PLI-linked incentives and the policy thrust on promoting semiconductor fab manufacturing are positives as well,” said Shah.
The summit will bring together key stakeholders from the business, government, and academic sectors and identify strategic partners for conducting business in India, and promote investment opportunities in the country, according to the tender.
“The conference is pitched at the highest level of private-public partnership and shall channelise efforts on priority sectors and investible opportunities for global investors. The conference is also aimed at strengthening India’s position as an attractive investment destination based on growth, opportunities, returns, and ease of doing business,” the tender floated last month said.