NRI business family Hinduja group is looking at huge expansion plans in the African region across diverse sectors including automotive, technology and energy.
"Hinduja group is expanding in a major way. We are expanding into Africa and there have been many meetings here with leaders from African countries, including Senegal, Nigeria and South Africa to explore business opportunities in those places," the group's Europe Chairman Prakash Hinduja told the news agency here.
Hinduja, who was here for the five-day World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting that ended yesterday, said the areas being looked at for expansion include exports of Ashok leyland vehicles to various African countries in a big way.
Part of the Hinduja group, Ashok leyland is a leading manufacturer of commercial vehicles in India.He, however, did not comment on the potential market size for these exports in various African countries, saying it would depend on the capacity and demand in those countries.
"Other sectors where we are planning to expand there (in Africa) include our information technology business and Houghton, which we have acquired recently.
"Besides, if sanctions against Iran are lifted, we will also look into exploring business in Iran," he said, while referring to the call made by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani here at Davos to international community seeking investments in the Islamic Republic.
Hinduja, who held several meetings here with business and government leaders, said investors worldwide are willing to bring investments worth billions of dollars into India, provided there is right environment for them.
"The fact is there has been significant developments on fronts like infrastructure building, right policy framework and economic reforms. However, these measures and improvements need to be communicated well on a global stage by the Indian government.
"I have talked to the leaders and they agree that positive developments need to be communicated in an effective manner on global platforms like Davos," he said.
Hinduja said that Africa is another big opportunity for Indian companies."Chinese companies are already making inroads there, but it can be easier for us because of long relationships between India and Africa.
"In fact, India and China can go together into Africa. There are huge opportunities in the entire African region. There are mines, minerals, oil, gas and a lot many things in that region, which India can explore with its huge skilled manpower pool. It will be a win-win situation," he added.Summing up the mood at Davos, industry body CII's Director General Chandrajit Banerjee said he saw a lot of optimism about India at this WEF Annual Meeting and the Indian growth story remains intact.
"There was a lot of focus towards India from the international community," he said.The message Indian leaders have tried to give to the foreign investors is that India is experiencing a very short-term blip at this point of time, but its growth story is intact.
"Also elections are not such a major issue as they are unlikely to derail the growth momentum irrespective of the party that comes to the power. Because if you look at the top ten states of the country in terms of economic growth rate, they are ruled by six different political parties.
"This shows the sustainability of Indian growth story and proves that whoever may be in charge of the government, any policy reversal is unlikely and the country's reforms and policy framework would see a continuity," Banerjee said.The CII chief also said that a great story is emerging in the states of India.