India will account for 5 - 10% of the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan's OTPP assets in the next 15 -- 20 years, as the Canadian fund looks to expand investments in areas such as infrastructure, healthcare and renewables, according to its CEO, told Reuters on Tuesday.
OTPP's current exposure to India is less than 2% of its $240 billion in assets globally.
Chief Executive Jo Taylor said in an interview in India's financial capital Mumbai that the exposure to India will be a very important part of the balance sheet.
The fund opened an Indian office in May - its third in the Asia-Pacific region after Singapore and Hong Kong - and plans to hire 10 people by the end of the year.
Taylor indicated that OTPP would take a different approach, despite the fact that global funds and companies have invested billions of dollars in Indian startups and digital companies in recent years.
I think where we will probably be of most value to India is actually being able to help with a lot of the infrastructure build out that India is looking to do, he said.
Taylor said that OTPP will focus on sectors like healthcare and renewables, expanding on recent investments that the fund has made in the country.
In 2016 OTPP first bet on an Indian company via Alibaba-backed online retailer Snapdeal, but it has made most of its Indian investments in the past year - including $300 million in Mahindra's renewable energy assets and the buyout of hospital chain Sahyadri.
Taylor said that while assets in India were more richly valued than in some other countries, expectations of faster growth made them more desirable.
He said that India has a pretty strong retail market looking for IPO opportunities and that is a big asset for the country.