March 14, 2024
2 mins read

Report: India Surpasses China as Top Target for Middle East Investment

India accounted for more than half of all investment deals by Middle Eastern funds in Asia and 58 percent of the capital invested in Asia by Middle Eastern entities since 2020, dwarfing China and Southeast Asia…reports Asian Lite News

India is more than twice as important as China as a target for Middle East investment, an industry report has revealed.

Since 2020, private capital deal value from the Middle East into Asia has soared more than sixfold, from $14 billion between 2016 and 2019 to $83 billion since 2020, data from the Global Private Capital Association shows.

Driven by strong interest from Middle East sovereign wealth funds in tech and consumer digital platforms such as Jio Platforms, Flipkart and Reliance Retail Ventures, India topped all Asian markets for cross-border private capital transactions by Middle East investors since 2020, Arabian Gulf Business Insight reported.

India accounted for more than half of all investment deals by Middle Eastern funds in Asia and 58 percent of the capital invested in Asia by Middle Eastern entities since 2020, dwarfing China and Southeast Asia.

“There is a really diverse opportunity across the asset classes in India compared to China,” Jeff Schlapinski, managing director of research at GPCA, told AGBI.

“It’s not just private equity and venture deals, but also infrastructure, private credit, whereas we’ve seen very little on the private infrastructure side in China compared to this and less activity in the private credit space in China as well.”

In February, the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala signed a $1 billion deal with Goldman Sachs to co-invest in private credit opportunities in Asia, with a particular focus on India. 

In July last year, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), the UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund, opened an office in Gujarat International Finance Tec-City and last month announced plans  for a $4 billion to $5 billion fund to drive UAE investments in India.

Earlier this month, it was reported that ADIA had acquired shares in the Indian budget carrier SpiceJet.

Scott Livermore, chief economist at Oxford Economics, said India was seen as a potential winner as the West turns away from China for geopolitical reasons and to diversify its supply chains.

“For the Middle East, this is much more about the rise of opportunities in India than seeking alternatives to China,” he said.

India became the world’s most populous country in 2023, and the growth in its middle class is making it an attractive investment destination for Gulf companies and sovereign wealth funds.

Schlapinski said: “I definitely think that part of the motivation, for sure, is access to capital in a more difficult environment for fundraising, in which many US and European investors have perhaps been overextended on the private market side.

“Now they are adjusting their portfolios accordingly, whereas sovereign funds from the Middle East continue to expand their balance and do deals.”

Gulf-Asia trade rose by around 35 percent between 2021 and 2022, whereas the Gulf’s combined trade with the US, UK, and Western Europe grew by approximately 32 percent over that period, according to a report from Asia House.

ALSO READ-UAE’s genome strategy to boost healthcare

Previous Story

‘Return Feels Like Debut’

Next Story

EU agrees €5 bn package to fund arms for Ukraine

Latest from -Top News

Taipei Gets Tough on Beijing

The new move marks one of the most comprehensive efforts in recent years to strengthen Taiwan’s legal defences against Beijing’s covert attempts…reports Asian Lite News Taiwanese lawmakers from both the ruling and

Pakistan Warns Afghanistan War

Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Asif warned that Islamabad could enter an “open war” with Kabul if peace talks in Istanbul fail to ease rising Afghan border tensions…reports Asian Lite News Pakistan’s Defence

UN Signs Landmark Cybercrime Treaty

Malaysia’s foreign minister warned ASEAN is losing neutrality amid rising global power competition, ahead of the bloc’s annual summit….reports Asian Lite News Sixty-five nations have signed a landmark United Nations convention in

Malaysia Warns ASEAN Neutrality Eroding

Malaysia’s foreign minister warned ASEAN is losing neutrality amid rising global power competition, ahead of the bloc’s annual summit….reports Asian Lite News  Malaysia’s foreign minister has warned Southeast Asian counterparts that the

Trump Treads Carefully on Taiwan

Trump confirmed that Taiwan would be among the topics likely to come up during his discussions with Xi…reports Asian Lite News As US President Donald Trump began his five-day tour of Asia
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Canadian FM Anand to Visit India Oct 13

Anand will visit Mumbai to engage with Canadian and Indian

Karnataka in a fiscal soup

The total debt of the state went up from Rs