Salman Khurshid in Norway to tap funds for India's infrastructure

NEW DELHI: Eyeing to tap into one of the world's richest sovereign wealth fund, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid is on a three-day visit to Norway where he will also discuss a host issues including energy security besides visiting India's Himadri research station.

"We are extremely untested in the Arctic region and intend to play an active role in the arctic council too," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said here today.

A main focus of the visit, besides reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral ties, would be to woo Norway to invest in India especially in infrastructure sector.

"Norway has among the richest sovereign wealth funds...It has about USD 700 billion at its disposal," MEA officials said adding a delegation from the Fund had visited India in April and met Finance Minister P Chidamabaram and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

"The External Affairs Minister intends to take these discussions forward and to see how we can facilitate greater investments into India, including in infrastructure sector through the sovereign wealth fund that Norway has," he said.

Akbaruddin added Norway is investing in Indian companies but they have not yet invested in infrastructure. "It is our hope that as they expand their portfolio for investments in India, even infrastructure would be one of those areas".