Qatar eyes US$10bn Indian investment

Qatar is planning to invest up to US$10bn in India over the next few years, but the head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund said the market was “a little complicated”. Hussain Al Abdulla, executive director of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), called on the Indian government to change its policies regarding regulation and access to the market by foreign investors, it was reported on Wednesday. "I am interested in anything that is consumer focus and that yields profits… Even on a yearly basis, I am willing to invest up to US$10bn here," he was quoted as saying by India’s The Economic Times newspaper. QIA has an international office in India, as well as in Paris and China, and last year it invested around US$500m in the Indian market, the report added. "I don't understand this business environment very well. It is a little complicated when it comes to issues like regulation and relationship between private sector and the government," Al Abdulla said of the Indian investment environment. "Government policies need to change," he added during a visit India as part of a delegation, which included Qatar's Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. During Sheikh Khalifa Al-Thani's visit, the Qatari government signed a number of trade deals with India, including one to increase joint oil and gas exploration.