India’s infrastructure industry presents the biggest potential for growth and opportunities for investment in the world. The Indian government’s 11th five-year plan for the 2007-2012 period projects about US $500 billion of infrastructure investment. Of this, utilities will receive the largest portion with US$ 167 billion. Roads will be allocated US$ 92 billion, railways US $65 billion, ports US $22 billion and airports US $8 billion. The government envisages 30% of the total amount in the plan to come from private sector companies through PPPs (Public-Private Partnerships). In September 2009, Goldman Sachs announced that it believes that India’s infrastructure sector will require US$ 1.7 trillion in financing over the next decade to 2020. The country needs to more than double electricity capacity, increase the length of roads by half, add to the length of railways, and increase its number of ports and airports.

As part of the most recent budget, the state owned Indian Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFC) will increase its lending to the commercial banking sector, which in turn is expected to pass on extra liquidity to the private sector. In addition, the IIFC will guarantee to refinance 60% of total commercial bank loans for PPP projects over the next 15 to 18 months. PPPs remain a crucial element of financing infrastructure investments in India.

The fundamentals for a thriving infrastructure sector are present in India. The government is keen to facilitate PPPs in the sector through easing regulations. Companies like IRB Infrastructure Developers, GMR Infrastructure, and GVK Power & Infrastructure are here to discuss those opportunities.

IRB Infrastructure Developers is an infrastructure development and construction company in India with significant experience in the roads and highways sector. GMR Infrastructure is an infrastructure company with interests in airports, power and roads. The Company is developing a greenfield international airport at Hyderabad, and is also operating, managing and developing the Delhi airport. GVK Power & Infrastructure is a holding company of power assets, Mumbai airport development, and Bangalore airport development. The Company operates power plants, serving distribution companies of Andhra Pradesh in India.

Panel speakers:
Virendra Mhaiskar, Chairman & MD of IRB Infrastructure
Subba Rao, Group CFO of GMR Infrastructure
Issac George, CFO of GVK Power & Infrastructure.

Cost: $10-$25