Web desk
TORONTO: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) securing an absolute majority in the Indian parliamentary elections and Narendra Modi set to take over as the prime minister, Toronto-based Fairfax Financial Holdings, run by Hyderabad-born Prem Watsa, is set to launch a a publicly listed India fund.
Watsa says Modi will have “a transformational impact on India.” With a stake already in an insurance company and a travel agency in India, Fairfax Holdings will soon the list its India fund targeting $1 billion in assets under management. It will include $300 million from Fairfax itself.
Watsa hasn’t yet decided the stock exchanges where the India fund will be listed.
The BJP’s absolute majority and Modi’s pro-business image have already boosted the country’s stock markets and the currency.
Hyderabad-born IITian Prem Watsa, 63, is by far the richest Indo-Canadian. He came to Canada after completing his degree in chemical engineering from IIT Madras. He is an MBA from the famous Richard Ivy School of Business of the University of Waterloo in Canada.
Called the Warren Buffett of Canada, Watsa took control of Fairfax in the mid-1980s. It has over 8,000 employees worldwide. Fairfax also controls 10 percent of Blackberry shares.
The sentiments are upbeat and expectations are high from Modi Govt. However, caution and realistic demands by people of India is order of the day.