By Swastika Mukhopadhyay, R Raghvendra Kamath & Kishor Kadam

Canada’s three major funds – Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and Ontario Teachers Pension Plan – have invested more than $30 billion (Rs 2.49 trillion) in India in both listed and unlisted firms, according to data culled from their respective websites and other sources.

Out of this, CPPIB, governed and managed independently of the Canada Pension Plan, is the major investor with over $21 billion (Rs 1.74 trillion) across IT, infrastructure, financial services, among others.

In FY23, CPPIB made an investment of $425 million inVerSe Innovation, a local language artificial intelligence-driven content platforms in which it holds a 13.8% stake. It also made investment of $120 million in Sajjan India, a specialised agrochemical manufacturer. In what it calls real assets, it committed C$925 million across two transactions in ReNew Energy Global , a renewable energy company.

Meanwhile, CDPQ, which owns a 2.93% stake in Piramal Enterprises, poured in a total investment of $6 billion (Rs 49,890 crore) in the country. CDPQ has also financed non-listed entities such as power producer Apraava Energy and Eastern Peripheral Expressway.

Ontario Teachers has invested $3 billion (Rs 24,945 crore) across renewable energy and transport sectors of India.

Since CPPIB started investing in 2009, it has invested $8.98 billion (Rs 74,668 crore) in unlisted companies. Meanwhile, CDPQ has funded $3.67 billion (Rs 30,516 crore) and OTPP has invested $1.68 billion (Rs 13,969 crore) in unlisted companies since they both began investing in 2016. The three Canadian funds have in total invested $14.33 billion (Rs 1.19 trillion) in unlisted companies, according to data from by Venture Intelligence, which tracks PE and VC deals.

Over the past few days, stocks of listed Indian firms financed by these funds, have taken a beating owing to diplomatic altercations between Canada and India.

The total value invested by Canada Pension Fund across 63 holdings fell to Rs 39,651 crore as of September 21, from Rs 40,196 crore on September 18. CPPIB’s top Indian equity holdings include Kotak Mahindra Bank, ReNew Energy Global PLC C, ReNew Energy Global PLC A, IndInfravit Trust, National Highways Infra Trust, Zomato, Delhivery, Indus Towers, PowerGrid Infrastructure Investment Trust and One 97 Communications.

Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Zomato, Delhivery Indus Towers, One 97 Communications, and FSN E-Commerce Ventures declined since September 18. “Volatility can be expected in these names in the short term, I don’t see the original holders selling the stock,” according to Vinod Nair, head of research of Geojit Financial Services.

The diplomatic relations between the two countries took a hit after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that India was behind the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in June. Calling these allegations ‘absurd and motivated’, India denied its involvement in any act of violence in Canada.