Fairfax Financial chairman Prem Watsa says India could enter a decade-long investment upswing as companies diversify beyond China, while his group moves towards acquiring a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank.
Prem Watsa has offered an upbeat reading of India’s prospects, saying the country could be on the verge of a long investment upswing as global companies deepen their presence and manufacturers look for alternatives to China. Speaking to Business Today, the Fairfax Financial chairman said India’s growth over the next decade could be “huge”, pointing to the country’s widening network of free trade agreements and its growing appeal for export-focused production.
Watsa tied that optimism directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic agenda. He said he has met Modi privately on multiple occasions since 2014 and described the prime minister’s attention to growth as the central subject of those conversations. In remarks carried by Business Today, Watsa said foreign investors were being drawn to India because of that policy focus and argued that political continuity has helped sustain confidence in the market.
His comments came as Fairfax moved closer to one of India’s most closely watched banking transactions. The government has approved the sale of a 60.72% stake in IDBI Bank to a Fairfax-led entity for ₹52,878.08 crore, according to official disclosures and reports in the Economic Times, LiveMint, Business Standard and the Financial Express. The winning bid of ₹81 a share was above the valuation set by independent assessors, and the deal is being billed as the largest strategic disinvestment since the sale of Air India.
The transaction still needs final regulatory clearance, including a fitness review by the Reserve Bank of India. LiveMint reported that the government and Life Insurance Corporation of India will together divest their holdings, while retaining minority stakes after the sale. Fairfax has also indicated that it wants to build a broader financial services platform around its Indian holdings, and Watsa told the Economic Times that the emphasis would be on strengthening IDBI Bank’s finances while protecting staff interests.
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