Treat us like ADIA, Gulf wealth funds urge India

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) from the Middle East are seeking special tax benefits for their investments in India’s infrastructure sector to bring them on par with what Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) enjoys in the country, two people aware of the matter said.

- Pavan Burugula

"During recent bilateral talks with India, some of these countries have raised the issue of tax exemption with their Indian counterparts. The issue was also raised through external stakeholders during the ongoing consultations for the Union Budget 2024-25," said one of the people.

For all infrastructure investments in India, funds controlled by ADIA are exempt from paying taxes on dividends, interest income and long-term capital gains, till March 2024.

Other SWFs get such exemptions only on a case-by-case basis for infrastructure investments, and "need to be specified by the Indian government by way of a notification for them to be eligible to claim such an exemption," said Parul Jain, head of international tax, Nishith Desai and Associates.

The other SWFs have now sought tax parity with ADIA. Mint could not ascertain the identity of these funds. An email sent to the finance ministry remained unanswered.