'Remarkable to see big cos going green'

The transformation under way in India is a key source of optimism for Mark Carney, the chair of Brookfield Asset Management, and the head of transition investing and UN special envoy for climate action and finance.

- Varun Sood & Satish John

In an interview, Carney, who was the governor of Central Bank of Canada (2008-13) and Bank of England (2013-2020) before joining the asset manager, said it was impressive that some of India’s largest conglomerates are pushing ahead in the clean-energy space. Last year, Brookfield closed a $15 billion global fund to invest in clean energy; of this, the asset manager invested $1.5 billion in India. Now, it is looking to close a second global fund that will be bigger than the first one, Carney said. Edited excerpts:

Earlier in the day, in a breakfast meeting with businessmen, you shared why you are very bullish about India and why this is ‘India’s decade’...

Well I’m not sure I used that phrase because I would rather extend it beyond this decade. There’s lots of reasons to be very positive about the country. From Brookfield’s perspective, we are a big investor and we expect to grow significantly across all our activities. I’m very positive and upbeat because I’ve been observing some of the substantive things that have been undertaken in India.

What makes global leaders like you so upbeat about India?