Search form

You are here

  • Home
  • UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India


UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India

Above, people visit the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City pavilion at the Vibrant Gujarat Trade Show in Gandhinagar on Jan. 11, 2024. (AFP)
Short Url

https://arab.news/rg674

Updated 08 October 2024
Follow

UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund starts operations in India

  • Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds
  • Indian government expects its Gujarat International Finance Tec-City operations to drive more UAE investment
Updated 08 October 2024
Sanjay Kumar

NEW DELHI: The UAE’s largest sovereign wealth fund has started its operations in India, in a move expected to increase investment activity in the region.

Established in 1976, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world that invests funds on behalf of the government of Abu Dhabi.

The start of its operations at the GIFT City (Gujarat International Finance Tec-City) was announced at a meeting of the India-UAE High Level Joint Task Force on Investments in Mumbai on Monday, which was co-chaired by Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, managing director of ADIA.

“The office is expected to drive further intensification of ADIA’s investment activities in India,” the Ministry of Commerce and Industry said in a statement.

“ADIA’s presence in the GIFT City underlines the strong interest from UAE’s institutional investors in India’s growing and dynamic economy. It also buttresses GIFT City’s reputation as a world-class financial services center, operating under a robust regulatory and legal framework.”

A flagship project in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, the GIFT City has been promoted by the Indian government as a “robust gateway for global capital and financial services” for the Indian economy.

Companies operating in GIFT City enjoy a complete tax exemption on business profits for any 10 consecutive years within a 15-year period, and no taxes on the transfer of funds from overseas jurisdictions.

“India is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and has been a key focus for ADIA’s investment activities for a number of years. We have built an extensive portfolio that spans asset classes, and we remain confident in India’s long-term growth prospects,” Sheikh Hamed said, as quoted by the Emirati state news agency WAM.

“Establishing ADIA’s subsidiary at GIFT City underlines our belief in the opportunities presented by India’s continued growth. GIFT City is creating a dynamic, world-class financial services ecosystem, operating under a strong regulator and a robust legal framework.”

The establishment of ADIA’s presence in the Gujarat hub was announced during Modi’s state visit to Abu Dhabi in July 2023.

The UAE is the largest Middle Eastern investor in India, with investments amounting to around $3 billion in the financial year 2023-24, according to Indian government data.

Topics: sovereign wealth fund UAE India Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Related

World
UAE wealth fund ADIA to invest up to $400 mln in Indian eyewear chain — report
Business & Economy
UAE’s ADIA wealth fund takes 10% stake in India’s HDFC for $24.1m

Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war

Updated 42 min 52 sec ago
AFP
Follow

Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war

  • Pontiff: ‘I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict’
Updated 42 min 52 sec ago
AFP

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy: Pope Leo XIV slammed the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the “indiscriminate use of force,” just days after a deadly strike by Israel’s military on a Catholic church.

“I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” Leo said at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence near Rome.

The pope, who spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the morning after Thursday’s strike, spoke of his “deep sorrow” for the attack on the Holy Family Church.

The church was sheltering around 600 displaced people, the majority of them children and including dozens of people with special needs.

Israel expressed “deep sorrow” over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating the strike.

“This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” Leo said on Sunday.

“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,” he added.

The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants.

Most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22nd month.

The pope also expressed his “sympathy” for the plight of “beloved Middle Eastern Christians” and their “sense of being able to do little in the face of this dramatic situation.”

Topics: War on Gaza Pope Leo XIV Gaza

Related

Update
Middle-East
Pope urges Netanyahu to end ‘heartbreaking’ Gaza war in rare call after church strike
Middle-East
Pope Leo appeals for Gaza ceasefire, laments deaths of children

Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past

Updated 20 July 2025
AFP
Follow

Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past

  • Neighboring casino hub Macau issued its own top-level typhoon warning shortly after noon
  • More than 250 people sought refuge at government-run temporary shelters
Updated 20 July 2025
AFP

HONG KONG: Hong Kong was battered by strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday as Typhoon Wipha skirted along China’s southern coast, with fallen trees and collapsed scaffolding spotted across the city.

Wipha was located around 140 kilometers (87 miles) to Hong Kong’s southwest as of 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), according to the city’s weather observatory.

Hong Kong’s highest tropical cyclone warning, T10, was in effect for around seven hours but was downgraded to the third-highest T8 warning at 4:10 p.m. as Wipha departed the city.

“Gale to storm force southeasterly winds are still affecting parts of the territory occasionally,” the observatory said.

“The intense rainbands of Wipha are persistently affecting the vicinity of Pearl River Estuary.”

Neighboring casino hub Macau issued its own top-level typhoon warning shortly after noon, with authorities suspending all public transportation services.

China’s Hainan and Guangdong provinces were earlier put on high alert, according to state news agency Xinhua.

In Hong Kong, more than 250 people sought refuge at government-run temporary shelters.

Officials said they received more than 450 reports of fallen trees and a handful of flooding reports, including at a main thoroughfare in the Wong Tai Sin district.

A representative from Hong Kong’s Airport Authority earlier said that around 500 flights have been canceled due to the weather, while around 400 flights were scheduled to take off or land later in the day.

Authorities suspended Sunday’s classes at all day schools and daycare centers.

Local trains offered limited services while operations in open sections were suspended.

Wipha also brought heavy rains and flooding to the Philippines, where two people have been reported missing, according to the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Hong Kong last hoisted the T10 warning signal for Super Typhoon Saola in 2023.

Topics: typhoon weather Hong Kong

Related

World
Second storm hits Hong Kong and Macau amid typhoon recovery
World
Hong Kong’s heaviest rain in at least 140 years floods city streets, metro

Eritrean president warns Ethiopia against waging war

Updated 20 July 2025
AFP
Follow

Eritrean president warns Ethiopia against waging war

  • At the heart of the current tension, according to the Eritrean government, is landlocked Ethiopia’s long-held desire for a seaport.
Updated 20 July 2025
AFP

NAIROBI: Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki has warned neighbor Ethiopia against launching a new war between the bitter foes, with tensions high in the Horn of Africa region.
Eritrea and Ethiopia have had fraught relations since the former declared independence in 1993, with tens of thousands of people killed in a war between the two from 1998 to 2000.
At the heart of the current tension, according to the Eritrean government, is landlocked Ethiopia’s long-held desire for a seaport.
Afwerki, who has ruled Eritrea with an iron fist since independence, warned Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed that he would not be able to simply overwhelm his country by weight of numbers — Ethiopia’s population is 130 million, compared to just 3.5 million people living in Eritrea.
“If he thinks he can overwhelm (Eritrean forces) with human wave attack, (he is mistaken),” Afwerki told state television channel Eri-TV.
“Before dragging the people of Ethiopia into unwanted wars or using them for another political agenda, the country’s internal problems must be first addressed and solved,” he said.
He called Abiy’s actions a “reckless” attempt to “divert attention” from domestic problems.
Abiy signed a peace deal with Afwerki shortly after coming to power in 2018, but a violent conflict erupted in Ethiopia’s Tigray province from 2020 to 2022 as Eritrea’s forces backed rebels there fighting Ethiopian troops.
At least 600,000 people were killed in the conflict, according to an African Union estimate.
Although a peace deal ended the fighting, Eritrea has maintained a military presence in Tigray and relations between the neighbors have deteriorated.
Abiy has repeatedly said Ethiopia must have access to the sea, but by peaceful means.
Last month, a report by a US monitoring group accused Eritrea of rebuilding its army and destabilising its neighbors.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Ghebremeskel criticized the report by NGO The Sentry and blamed “the new tension in the region” on Ethiopia.
Eritrea had been under US arms sanctions that were lifted after the 2018 peace deal.
Eritrea is a single-party state which consistently ranks among the worst in the world for rights — in last place for press freedom, according to Reporters Without Borders, and 175th out of 183 for human development in 2022, according to the United Nations.

Topics: Eritrea Ethiopia war

Related

Middle-East
Egypt says Ethiopia’s power-generating dam lacks a legally binding agreement
Middle-East
Paramilitary drone hits Sudan airport near Eritrea: pro-army source

Tsunami alert after powerful quakes strike off coast of Russia: USGS

Updated 20 July 2025
AFP
Follow

Tsunami alert after powerful quakes strike off coast of Russia: USGS

  • Earlier 5.0-magnitude and 6.7-magnitude earthquakes did not initially trigger a tsunami alert
Updated 20 July 2025
AFP

MOSCOW: Three powerful earthquakes struck off the coast of Russia’s far east on Sunday, triggering a tsunami alert, the US Geological Survey said.
Earlier 5.0-magnitude and 6.7-magnitude earthquakes did not initially trigger a tsunami alert, but were followed by a 7.4-magnitude quake at 0849 GMT, prompting the USGS to warn that “hazardous tsunami waves are possible” within 300 kilometers (186 miles) of the epicenter in the Pacific, off the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky.

Topics: Russia US earthquake alert

Related

World
Russia says it downed 142 Ukrainian drones, including 27 over Moscow region
Update
World
Magnitude 6.7 earthquake strikes Indonesia’s Tanimbar Islands region, geophysics agency says

Russia says it downed 142 Ukrainian drones, including 27 over Moscow region

Updated 20 July 2025
Reuters
Follow

Russia says it downed 142 Ukrainian drones, including 27 over Moscow region

  • The drones were reportedly shot down over a number of regions in the European part of Russia, as well as over the Black Sea
Updated 20 July 2025
Reuters

MOSCOW: Russia’s defense ministry and the mayor of Moscow said it had downed 142 drones overnight, including 27 over the Moscow region.

The drones were reportedly shot down over a number of regions in the European part of Russia, as well as over the Black Sea.

The latest attacks included four drones headed toward the Russian capital, which were downed on Sunday morning, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram around 1000 local time (0700 GMT).

According to Russia’s aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia, four major airports serving Moscow – Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovskiy – were affected, resulting in 134 flights being redirected.

By 1000 Moscow time, only two airports remained closed to air traffic – Vnukovo in the Moscow region and Grabtsevo in the Kaluga region.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict Russia Ukraine

Related

Update
World
Ukraine’s drone attack on Moscow forces airports’ closure, officials say
video
World
Ukrainian drone attack kills one in Russia’s Lipetsk, regional governor says

Latest updates

Opposition in Pakistan’s KP cries foul as assembly session adjourns without oath-taking
Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war
Six dead, 20 injured as passenger bus overturns in southern Pakistan 
Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past
Iranians told to use less water as heatwave worsens shortages

Search form

Print Edition
Read pdf version Subscribe now
© 2025 SAUDI RESEARCH & PUBLISHING COMPANY, All Rights Reserved And subject to Terms of Use Agreement.