The Indian government has called upon Kuwait to invest in the South East Asian country’s growing infrastructure sector as it looked to attract investment into the country.
Kuwait, which has a sovereign wealth fund of $300bn, is being courted by the Indian government, who aims to spend around $1trn on improving its infrastructure.
The issue was raised by India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma, during his meeting with the Kuwaiti Minister for Amiri Dewan Affairs, Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah.
The GCC country has a sovereign wealth fun that is growing by $15bn-$25bn every year. The fund is managed by Kuwait Investment Authority.
The $1trn being invested in infrastructure is part of India’s 12th Five-Year-Plan, which runs from 2012 to 2017, an Indian government official, who declined to be named, said.
At present, Kuwaiti investments in India stand at around $1bn in sectors like power, automobile, construction development and telecommunication.
India is looking for investment in sectors such as the petrochemical, fertilisers, DMIC, education and Civil Aviation. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $18.8bn in 2012.