General Electric will invest $250 million in infrastructure and healthcare projects in India over the next decade, chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said on May 29. "The next 10 years are critically important for India in terms of infrastructure," Immelt said.
Last year, GE announced it would reinvest the $145 million proceeds from the sale of a mothballed power plant in India into a development fund. GE settled a four-year dispute over payments by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board for its majority stake in the mothballed Dabhol power plant. The Dabhol power plant was originally built by now-bankrupt Enron for $3 billion, but closed after the board fell behind on payments.
Immelt said the company would pump a further $100 million into the fund which would focus on healthcare, cleaner energy, clean water and aviation projects.
Additionally, Immelt said GE planned to expand its presence further in India with GE Consumer Finance aiming to double revenues by 2010, investing aggressively in credit cards, home and personal loans. It currently has more than 2.5 million credit card customers in the country in partnership with the State Bank of India.
Immelt said the company was targeting $8 billion revenues and the same amount in assets by 2010, according to reports.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
