* Indian millionaires sit on nearly $1 trillion assets
* India is largest source of migrants to Australia
* Australia’s new visa scheme to attract the wealthy
By Cecile Lefort
SYDNEY, Oct 3 (Reuters) – India’s wealthy, from old money to
nouveaux riches IT entrepreneurs, are quietly snapping up hotels
and mines Down Under just as Australia embarks on an immigration
campaign to attract long-term investment.
The Jindal family, ranked among the world’s top 80 richest
by Forbes, in May bought two minor stakes, worth a total of A$26
million (US$26.99 million), in Australian iron ore and coal
mines through Jindal Steel & Power.
That followed a US$2 billion purchase by Indian self-made
billionaire and college-dropout Gautam Adani of a coal
mine in the state of Queensland last year.
Silverneedle Hospitality, a company backed by Nadathur S.
Raghavan, an Indian philanthropist and co-founder of software
company Infosys Technologies, just bought a hotel in
Brisbane for A$57 million. Last year, it bought a chain of about
60 hotels in Australia and New Zealand for an undisclosed sum.
“In the last six to nine months, there has been a lot of
private investment into Australia because it is seen as a
safe-haven,” said Paul Dowling, principal analyst at banking
research firm East & Partners.
While Indian nationals have traditionally favoured Britain
and North America as offshore investment destinations, private
wealth bankers have noticed a growing demand for Australian real
estate, particularly hotels and serviced apartments.
This comes as no surprise to Singapore-based Paul Guest,
head of research and strategy at LaSalle Investment Management,
as commercial property prices in Australia are very attractive.
With a forecast of about 10 percent per year, he said total
returns in Australia are the highest in Asia, topping Japan’s 9
percent and South Korea.
Also underpinning demand is Australia’s relatively strong
economic performance compared with Western peers.
Indeed, Australia is one among a select club of only eight
nations that can still boast a pristine triple A rating with a
stable outlook.
Dubbed the lucky country for its abundance of natural
resources, white sand beaches and kind climate, it is now
entering its 21st year of uninterrupted annual growth, having
dodged a recession after the 2008 global financial crisis.
ATTRACTING RICH
This year, Australia will overtake Spain as the world’s 12th
largest economy, despite being 52nd in terms of population.
This explains the massive increase in Australia’s foreign
direct investment which leapt to A$67 billion ($69.56 billion)
in 2012, nearly double the previous year, according to
government statistics.
Still, private investment from India, a country that
produces millionaires every day, would appear to lag that from
others such as China.
Analysts reckon China is leading the pack though the
Australian government does not keep statistics on direct
investment by nationality.
For Arjuna Mahendran, head of Asian investment strategy at
HSBC’s private bank in Singapore, the lag is due to a general
perception in India that Australian incentives are not as
generous as those of other countries.
That is one reason the Australian government will next month
launch a “significant investor” visa programme, with the aim of
competing with New Zealand, Canada and Singapore in attracting a
growing number of Asia’s rich.
India is home to more than 7,000 millionaires whose fortunes
amount to nearly $1 trillion, data from global wealth
intelligence firm Wealth X shows.
Combined with $465 billion held by Indian nationals living
outside their home country, the total is roughly equivalent to
the size of Australia’s entire economy.
Analysts speculate that within five years, India could have
pumped as much as $30 billion into Australia.
The new Australian visas will target individuals who invest
at least A$5 million in certain assets, such as infrastructure
government bonds, in return for concessions on the usual
migration requirements including qualifications and English
skills.
Such immigration schemes tend not only to bring much-coveted
long-term investment, but also contribute to economic growth and
job creation.
Indian nationals seem well-placed to benefit from the
programme. India has become Australia’s biggest source of
migrants, including a large number of IT entrepreneurs.
“Many of them are very interested in exploring the path to
permanent residency,” said Mark Wright, immigration leader
partner at Deloitte Australia.
($1 = 0.9632 Australian dollars)
(Editing by Robert Birsel)
