May 14, 2023

India a priority market in Asia for Mubadala: Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi Abu Dhabi’s state investment firm Mubadala Investment Co, which has so far invested $4 billion in India through direct and indirect investments, sees India as a priority market for its investments in Asia, especially in the infrastructure sector, said Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi , CEO, Real Estate and Infrastructure Investments at Mubadala in an exclusive interaction with ET. Of the total Investments by Mubadala till date, Real Estate and Infrastructure Investments portfolio stands at $1.6 billion. This includes a $1.2 billion investment in Jio Platforms and investments in Tata Power Renewables and Cube Highways’ infrastructure investment trust. A major backer of the Softbank Vision Fund with a $15 billion commitment, Mubadala manages assets worth approximately $284 billion. The investment firm was created in 2017 with the merger of two other state firms – International Petroleum Investment Company and Mubadala Development Company. In 2018, Abu Dhabi Investment Council was added to Mubadala making it the second largest sovereign fund of Abu Dhabi and the third largest in UAE. “India is a priority market for us in Asia. Mubadala is really serious about deploying more in India and to increase our weight allocation and portfolio in India, because right now it’s below India’s GDP share of global GDP. And I think we should be at least neutral if not even overweight in India,” said Qubaisi. “Where we are focusing on are things that positively impact people, improve life of people in India, whether it’s telecommunication, digital transformation and infrastructure,” he added. Within infrastructure, Mubadala is focusing on areas such as renewable energy and roads. “We believe in India’s future potential in energy and in renewable energy specifically, and we have high hopes and aspirations to invest even more in that area going forward. We are looking at this sector and as a fastest growing energy market and economy in the world, we want help support energy transition in the country and also be part of that growth,” said Qubaisi, adding that highways is another big area of interest for Mubadala. “It’s important for India to build up its infrastructure and highways are a core part of that infrastructure.” Qubaisi believes that these sectors alone can take billions and billions of dollars of capital, given how large India is and the growth Mubadala sees in the Indian economy. “These sectors alone will keep us busy for many years to come,” he said. Apart from renewables and roads, Mubadala is also looking at other investment opportunities such as city gas networks. Economic Times reported on 12 May that Mubadala and some Japanese investors are in talks to pick up a minority stake in I Squared Capital ‘s city gas distribution businesses in India at a valuation of around $1 billion. Mubadala’s investment strategy in India will focus on finding and backing the right partners.