On his first visit to India, Warren Buffett, he 80-year-old chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, and regarded as the world?s most successful investor ever, has said that the country is a logical investment destination despite the 26% FDI cap in the insurance sector.
Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate chaired by Buffett, recently entered the Indian non-life insurance sector in partnership with Bajaj Allianz. On Friday, he will meet IRDA chairman J Harinarayan in New Delhi.
The man, known as the Oracle of Omaha, said he was looking at investing more money in large countries like India. ?It?s not an emerging country anymore,? he said. ?I consider India as a very big market, just like UK and Germany.?
He said corruption will not be a major concern while taking investments decisions, when quizzed about the series of scams that had hit India over the last one year.
Advising Indian investors, he said, ?Invest in what you understand… Don’t go outside your circle of confidence… Don’t just buy and sell. Look for durability of the business and quality of management while you invest. However, it would be preposterous to give an opinion on the Indian economy just two hours after landing in the country.?
Buffett said the United States was recovering economically and added that if the Chinese and Indian economies continued to grow, it will reflect well on the US economy.
On his pet project of philanthropy, Buffett said he had always got what he wanted in life. ?I have made enough for myself and what is left over has no value for me. It?s better to hand it over to people who may find value in it.?
On Wednesday, Buffett will visit the Bangalore facility of TaeguTec, owned by an Israeli company, Iscar.
Berkshire Hathaway had purchased an 80% stake in Iscar in 2006. Buffett’s visit to India is part of his Asia tour that includes Bangalore and New Delhi. Before arriving in India, he visited South Korea. As part of its India entry, the American conglomerate has incorporated BerkshireIndia to sell and distribute general insurance products in India. Berkshire India would directly sell insurance to consumers through the portal ?www.berkshireinsurance.com? and by way of telemarketing.
Berkshire Hathaway is a conglomerate that has interests in various businesses, including real estate, casualty insurance and reinsurance, finance, manufacturing and retailing. The company, which at the end of last year was sitting on $38 billion of cash equivalent, had bought US specialty chemicals maker Lubrizol for $9 billion recently.