Project Finance In India Cannot Be Disconnected On The Size Of The Country And Its Population: Carlos Santos

The world is today facing an urgency of change when it comes to sustainable financing but that change needs to follow a transition process. Such transition process have principles that are divided among five pillars: identification of transition activities and investments, reporting, developing related finance instruments, designing policy measures and assessing and mitigating the negative economic impact of transition activities and investments. Naturally, sustainable Finance is the concept of the moment behind the urgency of action. Such actions place Investment firms in a unique position of actuation. India as one of the more relevant players at the G20 group has a unique word on the matter. India as the base of the last forum is the leading country in this transition process and very well structured to support this movement, feels Carlos Santos, CEO and Founder of Ethos Asset Management Inc.

In an exclusive interaction with Zee News, Santos said that countries like India where the focus is on long-term projects need project finance to be possible to succeed. “The need for infrastructure capital is higher here than in any other country in the world. For this reality, the needs of project finance in India cannot be disconnected on the size of the country and its population which today is the largest and most numerous in the world. That growing population is moving in parallel with the growth of GDP in the last 20 years that the world faced in comparison with any other economy. These two macroeconomic variables make project finance critical to the propelling of the Indian economy,” said Santos.

He said that to keep India's infrastructure investment rate above 30% of GDP, for example, New Delhi will need to spend something in the range of $150 billion to $180 billion a year. This will be crucial for creating the strong transport and logistics ecosystem needed to realize the government's manufacturing-led growth ambitions.

Ethos Asset Management has signed two deals in India. “One of the entities is receiving $12 million from us for a construction project in Karnataka and the other investment is $10 million at Mehadipanam, Hyderabad. Both transactions are naturally part of our small-cap line but a very solid beginning to create the right comfort to move for another level and amounts of investment,” he said. Santos said that both projects have a clear drive for sustainability.

Ethos, which has reportedly already deployed over $9 billion across multiple economies, has announced that it would deploy more than $1 billion in India over the next 5 years. Founded by Carlos Santos, Ethos is currently present with investments across 72 countries, and Operational Offices in San Diego, Washington DC, Brazil, Lisbon, South Africa and Turkey. Ethos primarily finances high level projects with long term sustainability.