Corruption at India’s top level has “disappeared” in the year since Narendra Modi took over as prime minister and this is an encouraging signal for foreign investors, says billionaire investor Prem Watsa. In an interview with ET’s Romit Guha, the ‘Warren Buffet of Canada’ says India is the only country of significant size that he likes in the world, given the economic concerns around the US, Europe and China. Prem Watsa-owned Fairfax India will be making the first of its five to seven planned investments in the country by the end of 2015. Edited excerpts:
How do you view India, its economy, now that the Narendra Modi-led government has completed a year?
India is doing very well. In the year since Prime Minister Modi took over, we believe that corruption at the highest levels has been removed. That push against corruption at the highest level will filter down as we go along. In such a short period of time, that's a phenomenal achievement. We are really excited to be here. Retroactive tax, some of these things, but like they said, they are from the past, but we see a lot of positive change, the biggest so far being the focus on eliminating corruption.
How is India as an investment destination?
There are still concerns in the world. China is having a problem with their domestic economy and the US is still very tepid. The only economy of significant size that we really like is India. But the Indian ..