Brookfield eyes $100 bn portfolio in India; explores opportunities in nuclear power projects

Economic Times

22-05-2025

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Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., one of the largest investors in India's infrastructure sector, plans to cross the $100 billion investment mark in the country in the next five years and is open to backing nuclear power projects, a segment that has seen a policy push in recent months, said a senior company executive.The New York-headquartered firm also aims to double its nearly $1 trillion assets under management during this period.'We are believers in nuclear (energy). We do think it provides clean, dispatchable baseload power and that is beneficial to the stability and growing demands for energy around the world. We are invested in the nuclear sector on a global basis,' Connor Teskey, president, Brookfield Asset Management, said on Thursday.He said the demand for clean energy, including natural gas as a transition fuel and nuclear (energy), would only go up in the near future.In the US, Brookfield owns Westinghouse Nuclear, a major player in the nuclear energy sector, providing nuclear power plants, fuel and services to utility customers worldwide.
'More than half the nuclear power generation assets around the world run on Westinghouse technology. We are a global supplier to the nuclear power generation sector. And as there are opportunities in different markets around the world, we assess those on an individual basis," Teskey said.Terming the firm's investment strategy '3Ds' – decarbonisation, digitalisation and deglobalisation – he said these trends, which have driven a significant amount of growth in the past five years, will continue to offer a 'multi-decade runway in terms of growth opportunities'.Since 2014, the firm has deployed about $30 billion in the country in transactions such as the acquisition of ATC Towers, the telecom towers of Reliance Jio and the East-West Pipeline (formerly Reliance Gas Transportation Infrastructure) from Reliance Industries. Of this, $12 billion each has been invested in infrastructure and real estate, another $3 billion in renewable power and transition, and $3.6 billion in private equity and Brookfield Special Investments.
Teskey said a combination of growth prospects in clean energy in India, the number of quality players and the government's ambition makes India poised to be the next clean energy superpower. 'We are keen on areas such as digital infrastructure, transportation infrastructure, utilities and power generation as well. We will look to invest in India very much in the same themes and focuses that we invest in around the world,' he said. The firm has invested heavily in data centres, telecom towers and fibre networks.'When it comes to other commodities, we're investors in midstream assets and utilities and transmission lines. And all of that will continue to be enhanced and built out in India as the economy continues to grow, both due to domestic demand and the growing role that it can play around the world,' Teskey said.Additionally, Brookfield will focus on financial services and manufacturing sectors in India in the near future. 'India's rapidly growing middle class is a large consumer market. I would say those are probably where we will continue to focus. Most of the leading global multinationals do have large and growing presence in the country. We can build our own or operate assets to serve that corporate demand,' Teskey said.In real estate, Brookfield is among the largest office owners and operators in India, with more than 55 million square feet across top nine office markets. It also owns Leela Hotels chain, which comprises 3,553 keys across 13 operational hotels, and is gearing up for a Rs 3,500 crore initial public offering.Teskey ruled out major business disruptions due to the ongoing tariff wars and the consequent geopolitical uncertainties. 'We want to own high quality critical assets in markets that have strong tailwinds and the key themes and dynamics that we are investing in today completely overwhelm any short term uncertainty or headline noise,' he said. 'There has been some level of uncertainty around the world to start 2025, but it has had absolutely no impact on our willingness to deploy capital. That completely overwhelms any short-term noise."