MUMBAI: Singapore’s state-owned investor Temasek has a strong deal pipeline in India, and the firm continues to scout for opportunities in the market where the value of its portfolio has hit $50 billion (includes Singtel’s stake in Airtel). India is fairly shielded against global geopolitical shifts and macro uncertainties on the back of robust domestic consumption, raising the firm’s growth prospects in the country, Vishesh Shrivastav, MD of Temasek’s India investment team, told TOI in an interview.The firm, which has earmarked investments of about $10 billion for India over three years (by an estimated 2026-27), has deployed over $6 billion from that pool and is “on track” to meet that target, said Shrivastav. “We don’t see a reason to change our guidance. Geopolitics is one of the biggest risks to investments today, and our focus is to build a portfolio that is resilient – something that is less impacted by shocks and where the range of outcomes is quite narrow. India is somewhat unique in the sense that it’s an economy with few dependencies on the external world. It’s mostly a domestic economy, and our portfolio reflects that,” Shrivastav said.India, which has delivered the best returns for Temasek over the past decade, currently makes up about 8% of its portfolio, almost double its share five years ago. Temasek’s India investments span traditional and new-age companies, including Axis Bank, Haldiram’s, Manipal Health Enterprises, Eternal (formerly Zomato), and Lenskart.
Earlier this year, the investment firm acquired a minority 9-10% stake in Haldiram Snacks Food in a deal worth more than Rs 8,000 crore, valuing the family-owned company at $10 billion. Temasek said that it is “keen to partner” with more family-owned businesses to drive long-term value-creation. The broader India investment strategy will be to bet on four themes – digitisation (new-age companies/startups), consumption (businesses such as Haldiram’s), increasing lifespan (healthcare), and sustainable living (spaces like EV). The playbook is in line with its global strategy but resonates very well in India, said Shrivastav.A market with young, aspirational consumers seeking to spend more, policy continuity, and a lot of “good macros” places India on a better footing, making Temasek confident about its prospects, said Shrivastav. Temasek, which largely makes direct investments in India, said that the ‘permanent’ nature of its capital allows it to invest across the life cycle of a company and make risky startup bets. “Our capital is not constrained by time frame... the best companies we were in keep compounding over many years, and we have no reason to exit them just because the fund life is over. We invested in Zomato when it was a very small company, and it was one of our best performers,” Shrivastav said.Temasek said it will continue investing in startups as it gives them an “ability to see what’s coming in the future”. Shrivastav said that 3-4 startups (apart from Lenskart) in its portfolio are IPO ready without disclosing names.
