Temasek looks to invest $10 billion in the next 3 years in India

For example, ST Telemedia, which is the largest data centre business in India, is expanding in the country. Similarly, Sembcorp Industries is looking at more renewable energy investment opportunities in India. Ascendas India logistics, which is a joint venture company with Temasek, is also looking to grow its portfolio. Singapore Airlines is also investing more capital in Air India, Lambah said.

“We deployed US$3 billion in India last year, our largest investment year to date,” he said, citing the $2 billion investment in Manipal Hospitals where the Singapore state firm has increased its stake to 60 per cent. Lambah said the Manipal Hospital may look at the option to launch an IPO (initial public offer) as all shareholders are aligned to the plan of taking the company public.

Temasek, he said, has been investing in India for the last 20 years, investing across market cycles and building up a deep understanding of the market. “Our India exposure makes up 7 percent of our global portfolio by underlying assets, up from 4 per cent in 2020 Over the last decade, India has been Temasek’s best performing market globally,” Lambah said. Chinese assets made up 19 percent of Temasek’s portfolio in 2024 – marginally down from 22 per cent in the fiscal 2023.

Temasek is looking at four themes for investments: Increasing lifespan via healthcare, consumption, digitisation and sustainability. “India fits very well in our themes, and that’s why we invested in Manipal last year and had earlier invested in Medanta, Dr Agarwal etc,” Lambah said.

“We are building our portfolio based on these themes. We had invested $100 million in Zomato 10 years ago when the company was starting its journey.” As of today, Temasek’s 1.94 percent stake in Zomato is valued at Rs 4,000 crore ($478 million), as per Bloomberg statistics.

Lambah said the firm is systematically building a resilient portfolio in India, focused on generating compounded growth over the long term.  “We have not participated in the Indian government’s privatisation plan so far but if opportunities are good, we look at it,” he said. “One of our investee companies, Singapore Airlines has picked up a stake in Air India and has participated in the government’s privatisation drive,” Lambah said.

Outside of Singapore, most of Temasek’ investment capital went to the United States, followed by India and Europe, as of last year. In India, almost half of its portfolio consists of the financial services sector including HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.

Lambah said the firm is a differentiated investor, focused on unlocking value through partnerships. “Unlike the private equity firms, we do not have any fund cycle and hence we are long-term asset owners, and able to deploy permanent capital,” Lambah said. “We are open to both public and private equity; with the latter across early, growth and mature stages, in both minority and buyout opportunities,” he said.

Lambah did not comment on its reported offer to acquire Haldiram, but said the consumption as a theme looks promising. “The way domestic demand is increasing, and wealth creation is taking place and GDP per capita is going up, it makes sense to look at assets in that segment,” Lambah said.

An industry source said Temasek has sold its 10 percent stake in  satellite TV broadcaster, Tata Play to Tata Sons, in the last financial year.

First Published: Jul 15 2024 | 6:32 PM IST