In addition to industrial investments, Australia can also look at making long-term financial investments in Tamil Nadu, which can deliver superior returns owing to its huge economic growth potential, S Krishnan, Tamil Nadu Industries Secretary, said here on Thursday.
Krishnan was speaking at a panel discussion during the Chennai launch of ‘An Update to the India Economic Strategy to 2035: Accelerating our Economic Integration’ at the Madras School of Economics.
Potential to deliver
“The exciting thing about Australian investments is that a lot of it could be financial and not necessarily be industrial,” he said, adding, “Given the size of Australia’s pension fund corpus, it needs to look at investing in an economy which has the potential to deliver returns that sustains the kind of returns from the market ... I think you should be looking at long-term financial investments in India and particularly in Tamil Nadu.”
Apart from the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), Krishnan said Australia should also look at the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Fund and various other housing and long-term funds that offer attractive investment opportunities.
The event comes in the backdrop of the signing of a landmark bilateral trade pact — Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI-ECTA) — last week, in the presence of the Prime Ministers of both the countries. The agreement estimates bilateral trade in goods to almost double to $50 billion in five years from about $27 billion at present.
The Australian government also announced an investment of ₹1,500 crore, its biggest-ever in India, to boost bilateral ties. The Update provides a five-year action plan for the Australian government to accelerate economic integration between Australia and India.
Encouraging businesses
Sarah Kirlew, Australia’s Consul-General for South India, in her keynote address, said, four out of 10 States chosen under the India economic strategy for priority collaboration between the two countries, are from South India. She noted that education had long been a flagship sector with 83 MoUs between Australian institutions and Tamil Nadu counterparts. She also identified a significant scope for collaboration in technology and innovation, energy sector and infrastructure financing.
Petula Thomas, CEO of Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce, said the recent announcements should encourage Indian and Australian businesses to look carefully at how they can benefit from these initiatives in the India Economic Strategy Update that will boost the bilateral relationship, and from reduced tariffs and liberalisation of the services sector that will soon be implemented.