India cautious & sceptical towards new investors, says Liberty chief

Sanjeev Gupta, executive chairman of UK-headquartered Liberty House that is getting ready to have a strong base in the country, is of the view that India treats new investors with suspicion. 

“We are used to going to places like Australia, the US and, recently, France, where we were received with a lot of enthusiasm and excitement. India, however, is very cautious and sceptical. Everything is looked at with a great deal of suspicion here. That’s the culture. We have to get used to it,” the India-born British businessman told Business Standard.

The firm recently bagged two insolvent companies — Adhunik Metaliks and Amtek Auto. 

“We are excited to be in India. But it is a tough place to do business and also frustrating at times. There are only a handful of investors left in the corporate sector today, as so many companies are in the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). You cannot run a country with just a handful of companies. You (India) need new investors desperately. We would expect more enthusiasm and encouragement,” Gupta said.

Liberty House is present in several geographies through GFG Alliance.  

“The interaction we have with the system in other countries is better. Here (in India) we feel a little bit on our own. Maybe it will take longer to establish in India, maybe they need to see results before they show any excitement. Here, actions need to speak louder than words,” said Gupta.

The company has also rebid for Bhushan Power & Steel and is competing with strong home-grown domestic players like Tata Steel and Sajjan Jindal-led JSW Steel for the asset.

“Bhushan Power is important to us. If the process turns into a price war, we will not go beyond a point, as we have our assessment on price for this asset. We want to create value and not do things at any price,” Gupta said.

Liberty House has earmarked a notional investment amount of close to $5 billion for the India market, which would go up if it bags Sanjay Singal-led Bhushan Power. The company, however, is flexible with its investment for the country and is also scouting for assets outside of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) list mainly in the power and financial services sector. 

“We have long-term plans for the India market. In the past few years, we have turned around over 50 businesses (across various geographies). Not a single sold. I think actions should speak louder than words,” said Gupta. 

While the company anchors itself in this new terrain, it also remains open to having greenfield projects. 

“We are new to India. Today, we have enough to do and we need to get that done first. We will look at greenfield projects as well in due course,” he said. 
 

The sell-off process under the insolvency law has so far not attracted major global players. Besides Liberty House, the only other global player is ArcelorMittal, which is bidding for Essar Steel.