Executives of well-known private equity firms are optimistic about India's economic outlook, even though global demand is slowing and central banks across the world are tightening monetary policies to control inflation
Amit Dalmia, senior MD and Asia head of portfolio operations of Blackstone Private Equity, Ankur Gupta of Brookfield, Gautam Kumra, chairman of McKinsey’s offices in Asia, and Ravi Lambah, Head of Investment Group, Head of India, Temasek, came together to discuss India’s economic outlook and the Indian private equity market’s potential to capitalise on the next wave of investment. The private equity investors talked about why India is an attractive location for new investments despite global recessionary trends and inflationary concerns.
Ravi Lambah explained that his company was positive about the prospects in India. He stated that Tamsek was a bottom-up investing firm committed to investing where favourable opportunities existed, and that the two aspects of India that impressed them the most were digitisation and the future of consumption.
Gautam Kumra stated that India is one of the fastest-growing markets for private equity and venture capital investments. “Last year, India saw between $40 and $50 billion. Three years ago, it was equivalent to one-third of what entered China; today, it must now be two-thirds.” said Kumra.
Ankur Gupta explained that a mild global recession is not necessarily a bad thing, where some businesses will have to restructure while good businesses will flourish very well. Gupta was also optimistic about the Indian economy. He stated that while India has always been a wonderful macro, the environment for investing has become more favourable in recent years. He also said that as investors got involved, many family businesses in India were changing to more professional structures.
Amit Dalmia said that monetary tightening by the world’s central banks would lower inflation, but that interest rates would stay high for the foreseeable future. He concurred with Ravi Lambah and Ankur Gupta that India is a promising market. “India no longer ranks behind Europe, the United States, and China; it is the most profitable geography for Blackstone. Also, India has a great deal working for it in terms of tech talent and demographics, which creates opportunities for long-term investors such as ourselves,” Dalmia added.
The panel discussion took place on the second day of the seventh edition of The Economic Times Global Business Summit 2023 in New Delhi.
