15 September 2016
Muscat - The State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), a sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of Oman, is part of a trio of globally renowned investors that are backing a 'platform company' set up to facilitate investment in India's booming power sector. The platform company has been jointly launched by Tata Power, India's largest integrated power company, and ICICI Venture, a specialist alternative assets manager wholly owned by ICICI Bank, the largest private sector bank in India. Earlier this week, Tata Power and ICICI Venture announced the establishment of the Platform to facilitate investment in power projects in India in the coming two-three years, which are in either operational or in advanced stages of development.

Backing the Platform as partner investors are three institutions ranked among the largest investors globally. They comprise the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the Sultanate's primary sovereign wealth fund; La Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), one of Canada's leading institutional fund managers; and Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA), a sovereign wealth fund of Kuwait. Importantly, the Platform plans to raise an initial capital of up to $850 million to be contributed by the sponsors and partner investors either directly or through their affiliates.

"This can be upsized going forward, depending on market opportunities. The Platform targets acquisition of controlling stakes in power generating companies, both conventional thermal, hydroelectric and transmission assets in India," the co-sponsors said in a statement.

The creation of the Platform comes against a backdrop of intensifying investment in India's power sector. 
In 2014, the Indian government unveiled an ambitious five-year strategy, involving an estimated $250 billion in investment, to roll out electricity networks in unserved and underserved parts of the country.

The goal is to sustain economic growth, improve living conditions for the poorest populations, and replace traditional fuels with electricity.

According to the Platform's co-sponsors, the additional capacity required to meet the demand is estimated at a staggering 93 gigawatts (GW) by 2022, and will be generated through conventional and renewable sources. The required investments will come from both public sources and private investors.

SGRF's participation as a partner investor in the initiative is in line with the wealth fund's strategy to suitably invest the Omani government's reserves with the aim of providing a long-term return for future generations, while also diversifying away from the oil & gas sector.

The Muscat-headquartered Fund seeks to achieve this goal by investing primarily internationally across a range of asset classes. SGRF has direct investments in some 25 countries internationally in addition to managing a diversified portfolio of listed market investments across different asset classes.

Commenting on the Fund's participation in the Platform, Abdulsalam al Murshidi, Executive President of SGRF, said: "We are excited to be part of this Platform that combines the expertise of two of India's leading business groups along with international reputed institutional investors.

"We are also particularly thrilled to invest in the world's 5th largest electricity producing country and increase our exposure to Indian infrastructure, a key beneficiary of India's economic development."

Anil Sardana, CEO & MD, Tata Power, added: "It has been our constant endeavour to leverage opportunities in the Indian power sector and create stakeholder value through organic and inorganic means.

This Platform is one such step in this direction for assets that would be win-win for all stakeholders as it would be value accreting considering the assets would be near-completion or already operating. We are happy to have co-sponsor and investors of tremendous reputation namely ICICI, CDPQ, KIA and SGRF and we hope this would generate good value for them too."

© Oman Daily Observer 2016