Oman-India JV to raise $250 mn for 'Make in India' campaign

A joint investment fund set up by SBI and Oman's sovereign fund will raise its corpus by $250 million for a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to capitalise on the new government's 'Make in India' initiative.

"The ministerial India-Oman Joint Commission, has accorded a political go-ahead for the second tranche with modalities to be worked out by State Bank of India (SBI) and State General Reserve Fund (SGRF) for its launch at the earliest," Indian ambassador to Oman, J S Mukul said yesterday.

The fund was formed in 2011 with equal equity contribution from SBI and SGRF, one of Oman's sovereign wealth fund.

"The 'Make in India' campaign, recently launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, aims to make India a manufacturing hub," Mukul added.

SPVs are meant for cushioning firms from financial risks. They are also commonly used to hide debt.

Addressing a conference here, Mukul said that the bilateral trade between India and Oman has grown by 25 per cent to $5.77 billion between April 2013 and March 2014 financial year, a local newspaper quoted him as saying.

He further said there are over 1,500 Indo-Omani JVs in Oman valued at $7.5 billion of which the Indian investment was $4.5 billion.

This includes some mega projects like Oman-India Fertiliser Company, Jindal Shadeed's iron and steel plant and four joint ventures of Larsen & Toubro's with Zubair group.