Singapore among largest investors in India despite challenges: Indian businessman Khattar

Singapore has been one of the largest investors in India through government-linked corporations despite multiple challenges, a leading Indian businessman in the city-state has said.

Speaking at a seminar following the launch of his memoir ''Changing Destiny'' at the Institute of South Asian Studies, a think-tank of the National University of Singapore, businessman Sat Pal Khattar also said that Singapore businesses in India have worked only with those government corporations that can take a medium-to-longer term view.

''Singapore has for many years been one of the largest investors in India through government-linked corporations which have deep pockets and can take a medium-to longer-term view. However, investing in India has always been challenging and continues to remain challenging,'' the 81-year-old entrepreneur said Singapore is among India's largest trade and investment partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and accounted for 27.3 per cent of India's overall trade with ASEAN in 2021-22.

The city-state is the leading source of Foreign Direct Investment into India and over the last 20 years, the total investment into India from Singapore is almost USD 136.653 billion and accounts for nearly 23 per cent of the total FDI inflows.

In his book, Khattar mentioned that the majority of Singapore's Chinese businesses feel more comfortable doing business in China.

''Similarly, few Singapore Indian businesses have invested in China with the exception of large trading houses like the Tatas from India which has significant IT interests in China via its Singapore subsidiary,'' he said.

Khattar says that as chairman of Singapore's First Capital Corp (FCC – and later renamed GuocoLand Ltd – he had made a number of property investments in China.

Citing reasons for a rough environment for businesses, Khattar said that court actions in India are painstakingly tedious and lengthy.

Khattar, who is also an advocate, founded one of the largest law firms in Singapore known as Khattar Wong LLP and was the first Singaporean to get the fourth highest Indian public service award Padma Shri in 2011 for his extensive work in developing bilateral relations between Singapore and India.

He was among the leads in setting up the Singapore-India Partnership Foundation in 2010 after then-Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong visited India in 2010.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)