Aus superannuation delegation to visit India for investments

Australian superannuation funds industry is placing its bets on India with a delegation expecting to visit the country later this year to explore investment opportunities, a media report said today.
"There is a real enthusiasm to look internationally and to look at India. They want to look at it and they want to understand it," London-based private equity fund Greater Pacific Capital's CEO Ketan Patel, who was on a visit to Australia, said after his meetings with Superfunds sector.
"There was a contrast with their views of India in the past and their views now. In the past they were worried about the bureaucracy, the corruption, the ease of doing business and its tax affairs. They can see this new government is addressing each of these.

"They know it can take time to assess investment decisions but if they take too long, it will be priced into the assets in India," Patel said.
The superfunds sector was now considering adelegation to visit India later this year, The Australian reported today.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is planning to visit Australia as part of the 'Make in India' programme in April and his brief will be to invite superfunds to invest in India, the report said.

Jaitley's visit will be supported by private equity fund Greater Pacific Capital that has invested more than USD 500 million in India in over the past decade.

"People were wondering if areas like infrastructure and real estate in India were organised enough for them to invest in," Patel said.
It was believed that Patel had met with the likes of the Future Fund, Cbus, Hostplus, MTAA and others, the report said.
He said super funds neededto be cautious about placing India in the emerging markets category.
"There is understandably caution from super funds towards emerging markets. But that caution is stopping Australia placing its bets into India. It is worth segmenting India from these emerging markets," Patel said, adding that India is at the ground floor of where China was a decade ago.

For the first time, India is recognising Australia's potential as a strategic partner, he said.
Currently, Australia and India are actively negotiating the free trade agreement. Relations between India and Australia have grown stronger in the last few years with both the countries signing some important deals, primarily the civilian nuclear cooperation agreement, which opens doors for the much-needed uranium supply for India's nuclear reactors.
Superannuation refers to the arrangements people make in Australia to accrue funds to replace their income in retirement.