Sovereign wealth funds and several industrialists in the UAE have shown strong interest in big-ticket projects in India. Logistics companies are also seeking to invest with an aim to bring down costs by a fourth in India, Goyal said.
This was part of discussions at the ninth meeting of the UAE-India High-Level Joint Task Force on Investments held in Dubai. The meeting was chaired by Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the executive council of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
We are surprised by the excitement in the UAE to invest in India Goyal said. We will fast-track the investment concern expressed by the funds and investors. We are moving from a stage of legacy issues to a stage of significant bump up in investments. In fact, we have to drum up the government machinery to be able to match up with their speed to invest in India
The minister said funds and investors were interested in roads, railways, and infrastructure as well. The sovereign wealth funds are keen to fund large brownfield investments, some projects which have started but not been completed due to lack of funds, Goyal said. He said Emirates NBD Bank has been approved to open two branches in India by the Reserve Bank of India.
The Task Force met after 2019. “Both India and the UAE have since then acted swiftly and ensured that all decisions have been concluded. There are very minor issues now and we have agreed to have a common platform for continuous dialogue to remove small bottlenecks which may come up,” said Goyal.
Goyal said investors in the UAE appreciated the fact that doing business now is clean and honest. “In fact, one company plans to invest in 25 locations in India to set up operations. The positivity was infectious,” he said.
The Joint Task Force was established in 2013 as a key forum for promoting economic ties between the UAE and India, which were further strengthened by the signing of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership Agreement between the two countries in 2017.
The Task Force has also agreed that the civil aviation authorities of both countries should ensure the speedy normalization of air transport operations between the two countries.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Finance World staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
