Investing in India is challenging, says Sat Pal Khattar
Singapore has for many years been one of the larger investors in India through Government-linked corporations which have deep pockets and can take a medium- to longer-term view, says the city state’s prominent businessman Sat Pal Khattar who was conferred Padma Shri in 2011 by the Indian Government.
But the majority of Singapore’s Chinese business feel more comfortable (doing business) in China, wrote Khattar in his memoir “Changing Destiny”, a 285-page book which as launched at a seminar on 1 June 2023 at the Institute of South Asian Studies, a think-tank of National University of Singapore.
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, says the lawyer-cum entrepreneur/investor.
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.
“I made many trips there (to China). However, my board of directors (Chinese origin) were more hands on than I was in dealing with these investments. They spoke the language and understood the nuances much better than I did,” he wrote in the book published by Angsana Books of Singapore.
He also points out that investing in India has always been challenging – and remains – challenging.
“One can never be sure how it would turn out. It is hard to say when an investment in private equity funds may be divested. In almost all cases we as investors hold minority positions,” wrote the 80-year-old Singaporean community leader.
“As minority stakeholders, we rely on the competence and, more important, the integrity of the Indian partners to manage the businesses.
“We are vulnerable should enforcement of legal obligation become necessary.”
Court actions in India are painstakingly tedious and lengthy, says Khattar who has founded one of the largest law firms in Singapore, Khattar Wong LLP, and has served on numerous public institutions such as the Public Service Commission and the Presidential Council of Minority Rights.
The Indian Government recognized Khattar with the Padma Shri for having made contributions to many India-Singapore relationships. Fiinews.com
