Billionaire Warren Buffett bowled over by Indian hospitality

Bangalore, Mar 23 (PTI) Indian hospitality on Wednesday
received a strong endorsement from the world's third richest
man, Warren Buffett, who said he was treated much better here
than back in the US.
"I am just overwhelmed by the welcome I have received
from the moment we got here. They treat me much better in
India than they do in the United States," said the Chairman
and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway at a brief meeting with the
Chief Minister of the south Indian state of Karnataka B S
Yeddyurappa early Wednesday morning.
"I want to transport all this... I believe in free
trade," he said in a lighter vein.
"We had a great dinner last night (Tuesday night)... I
met some very interesting people, had a great conversation. I
couldn't feel more welcome and more delighted to be here,"
said Buffet, who is staying at Taj West End during his visit
to the country.
"This is my first trip to India and the first foot I
placed on Indian soil was in Bangalore... and it won't be the
last," said the 80-year-old billionaire.
"When I come back, I will be 100 in 2030," he joked, but
quickly added that he planned to come back much before that
and was hopeful of seeing business expand here by then.
"We want to be where the action is and the action is
here," Buffett, who on Tuesday admitted to having made a late
entry into India, said.
Buffett, who viewed a short presentation on investment
opportunities in Karnataka and the Global Investors meet held
in 2010, said he was impressed by the speed of implementation
of the MoUs signed during the Investors Meet.
"... It is very impressive," he said, lauding the efforts
of the Karnataka government in facilitating the establishment
of a Nestle food processing plant in a short timeframe of
barely 10 months.
Yeddyurappa extended an invitation to Buffett to be the
chief guest at the Global Investors Meet in 2012 during the
nearly half-hour-long meeting.
The Chief Minister, attired in a formal suit, briefed
Buffett about the investment opportunities in Karnataka, the
progressive policies of the state government, the close to 400
MOUs signed at the Global Investors Meet and the speedy
implementation of several of the projects.
"I invite you to invest in Karnataka in different sectors
and assure you all the support and coordination from our
government," Yeddyurappa told the legendary investor.
To a question as to what Karnataka needs to be doing to
woo more investors, Buffett said, "You are doing the right
thing."
Asked what his own assessment was on the impact of the
Japanese crisis on the re-insurance sector, he said, "It is
very early to assess that."
"Much of the loss is uninsured... It is a wild guess at
this point, but I would say that it will be probably be
between half a billion and a billion dollars. To put that in
perspective, Katrina (hurricane) cost us USD 3 billion and we
are much larger. It is a significant amount of money, but it
is not what I call a super catastrophe from the financial
standpoint," he said, but added that it was a great tragedy
from the human loss point of view.