The Oracle of Omaha has spoken, again. “I’ll make one big investment a year in India,” he prophesied. Wearing a jasmine garland and sporting a bright vermilion tikka on his forehead and a bright smile, the world’s third richest man, legendary investor and philanthropist, Warren Buffet, 80, began his first visit to India by saying he felt a “little bit of a retard to have come to India so late”. But trusting the maxim, “better late than never”, he said his company Berkshire Hathaway (BH) would make one big investment a year in India, which he clubbed with markets like UK, Germany and Brazil as a potential opportunity for BH outside of the US. At present BH has very limited presence in India. It has a stake in a Bangalore company, TaeguTec, through an Israeli company Buffett owns, Iscar, and an agency for online insurance distribution. In his speciality area, insurance, India limiting foreign ownership to 26% was a limitation. As for big ticket stock buys, Buffett said, “BH invests in billions. Emerging markets have smaller opportunities. They are small markets that do not fit BH. So, a big stock investment is not a good fit for us”. He will be meeting the prime minister in Delhi during this visit. When they meet, “we will talk about what the prime minister wants to talk about and not what I want to talk about”. In the same vein, he said, “India has done well without my advice”. Asked about Bangalore being synonymous with offshoring and job loss in the US, he said, “I am a big believer in trade. It’s important for world prosperity”. In Delhi, Buffett and Bill Gates will meet with India’s wealthiest to talk about philanthropy.
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