India looking for global investors to fund infrastructure projects

India is scouting for global investors as there is a huge demand for infrastructure investment in the country, LSE CEO Nikhil Rathi has said.

"So, India is a fastest growing economy in G-20, growing at 7 per cent a year. There is huge demand for infrastructure investment in India, and it is going global and looking for global investors and London is proving to be natural place for it," Rathi said. 

The London Stock Exchange (LSE) saw listing of bonds worth Rs7,000 crore (Rs70 billion) on Thursday and Friday.

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari launched Rs5,000 (Rs50 billion) crore worth of NHAI bonds on Thursday.

Power, Coal and Renewable Energy Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday kicked off trading of papers worth Rs 2,000 crore (Rs20 billion) from India's biggest power generation utility NTPC.

"We have seen that progress built year after year. More money being raised at lower prices to invest directly in Indian infrastructure, whether that's power, roads, housing, renewable energy. Indian companies are finding welcome opening," he said.

Asserting that Indian power sector is one of the fastest growing power sectors in the world, Rathi said that the country will certainly achieve its ambitious renewable energy target of 175 GW.

"India’s renewable energy target that brings with it huge need to investors and also for projects. But, I think that there is lot of confidence in minister's (Power Minister Piyush Goyal's) leadership. This ambitious target will be delivered and delivered effectively," he said.

He asserted that more and more investors are sensing that Indian growth story is hugely exciting one, and are looking at platform like London Stock Exchange(LSE) with global reach to provide access to these opportunities.

The Indian government believes that London will continue to remain the premier global financial centre and the place where India will look forward to in a bid to finance for infrastructure, he said.

"We are global. We have large number of investors from US, Europe, Middle Wast and Asia. We are seeing that recurring issuance coming from Indian bond issues. We have a very large US manager coming to our market. So, we are global and that will continue to be the case," he said.

Source: Timesofoman