Temasek widens India bets as portfolio swells to $42 billion

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Singapore's Temasek is widening its India investment strategy beyond its traditional focus on consumer, healthcare and financial services, as its exposure to the country has more than quadrupled to $42 billion over the past decade.

The sovereign wealth fund is building expertise in sectors such as industrials, infrastructure and newer areas including space-tech, while positioning artificial intelligence (AI) as an enabler across its portfolio rather than a standalone investment theme.

"While consumer, healthcare and financial services remain the bulk of our portfolio today, we are also trying to build our expertise in industrials and newer sub-sectors like space-tech," Vishesh Shrivastav, managing director at Temasek India, told Mint in an interview.

In artificial intelligence, Shrivastav said India's biggest opportunity lies in the application layer, where much of the long-term value from new technologies tends to be created. He attributed this to the country's deep talent pool, digitization and infrastructure, which are expected to support broader AI adoption.

Temasek is also working with its portfolio companies to adopt AI while directing fresh capital towards sectors where the technology is more likely to enable growth than disrupt existing business models.

Over the last decade, India has been the best-performing market for the Singapore-based sovereign wealth fund, Shrivastav said.

Temasek is among the most active sovereign wealth funds in India, alongside Singapore's GIC, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Company and Qatar Investment Authority, with investments spanning financial services, renewables, infrastructure, real estate and healthcare.

Temasek has executed some of the largest transactions in India, including a $1 billion investment for a 10% stake in Agarwal family-backed Haldiram Food International Pvt. Ltd last year and about $2 billion to acquire majority control of Pai family-operated Manipal Health Enterprises in 2023.

The investment firm has been selectively adding new positions in structurally attractive sectors, including its investment in CleanMax in renewables, as it sees growing opportunities emerging from India's manufacturing build-out, capital formation and energy transition.

It has also invested in VFS Global, Lenskart, Eternal, Rebel Foods, Dr Agarwal's, Cloudnine Hospitals, Skyroot Aerospace, Axis Bank, National Stock Exchange and AU Small Finance Bank, among others.

Mint reported earlier this month that Temasek is close to acquiring stakes in space-tech startup Pixxel. Last October, Mint reported that the investment firm was close to acquiring a stake in medical devices maker Romsons Group.

“On an average, we have deployed about $3 billion every year and we see enough opportunity to continue doing that,” he said, detailing that the bulk of the capital invested in FY26 was in follow-on opportunities. Historically, the investment firm has made follow-on investments in companies such as CureFit Healthcare, Cartrade, Manipal, Cloudnine and Licious.

“The key is to expand the scope of what our companies are doing – whether it is for geographical expansions or tapping into other ancillary areas through bolt-on acquisitions,” Shrivastav said, adding that this benefits the firm to double down on the well-performing companies.

Temasek is also open to pursuing more control deals in India opportunistically, a strategy that has worked globally where nearly 40% of its companies are majority owned, he added.

It also has an asset management arm that has invested in Indian funds such as NIIF, Innovation Capital and InfoEdge Ventures, while gaining additional exposure through limited partner investments in other Asia-focused funds.

Over the past three years, Temasek has invested close to $9 billion in India. Its portfolio has also matured, with companies such as Dr. Agarwal's, Lenskart and Pine L...