Prabhu to seek investments from Australian pension funds

Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu will meet over 20 Australian superannuation or pension funds tomorrow in Sydney to seek investments in areas like infrastructure, waste management and airports.

The minister is on a two-day visit to Canberra and Sydney, starting from today, an official said.

India provides abundant opportunities for Australian funds in various sectors such as energy, transportation, housing, water, waste management, airports, ports, railways and other infrastructure-related segments.

Australia's superannuation funds are valued at 2.6 trillion Australian dollars (USD 1.93 trillion) as of December 2017. They are among the world's largest in terms of volume.

The funds have exposure to various international markets. However, their exposure to Indian markets is still very limited, despite continued greater than average market returns in India, the official added.

The minister would inform them about the stability of the Indian economy and improved ease of doing business.

Foreign direct investment in India increased by about 3 per cent to USD 61.96 billion in 2017-18.

"The agenda of the roundtable discussion is to deliberate and explore the opportunities available for Australian superfunds in the Indian market for stable and high returns," the official said.

The bilateral trade between India and Australia increased to USD 18 billion in 2016-17 from USD 14.11 billion in the previous fiscal. Trade balance is highly in favour of Australia.