Global credit guarantor bets big on India with $500 million plan, exec says
MUMBAI: GuarantCo, the credit-guarantee unit of the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), plans to increase its exposure to India, aiming to make the country its largest Asian market within three years, a senior official said on Monday. PIDG, a development finance institution backed by the U.K., Switzerland, Australia, France and others, mobilizes capital for sustainable infrastructure. GuarantCo specializes in partial credit guarantees to lower-rated firms in Africa and Asia, helping boost their ratings and access institutional money. The firm expects to provide guarantees worth $500 million in India’s climate and capital market deals by 2027, according to Nishant Kumar, managing director, Asia investments at GuarantCo and Asia head of coverage at PIDG. “Between 2025 and 2027, we would have deployed close to $500 million in guarantee capacity in India (including current guarantees),” Kumar said in an interview. GuarantCo’s increased focus on India comes as the country seeks to strengthen its credit enhancement ecosystem to attract significant foreign investment and bring down borrowing costs for lower-rated firms.