Temasek Spots Mega Trends To Invest In India

The investment firm is bullish on India due to long-term cyclical trends of demographics, rising middle class income and policy measures taken by the government in the last few years, said Mohit Bhandari, managing director of investment (India) at Temasek.

"That gives us confidence to put monies where our mouth is ... we are present in India for 19 years and we had portfolios that performed really well," Vishesh Shrivastav, who is also managing director of investment (India) at Temasek, told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah in an interview.

The investment firm is bullish on India due to long-term cyclical trends of demographics, rising middle class income and policy measures taken by the government in the last few years, said Mohit Bhandari, managing director of investment (India) at Temasek.

"That gives us confidence to put monies where our mouth is ... we are present in India for 19 years and we had portfolios that performed really well," Vishesh Shrivastav, who is also managing director of investment (India) at Temasek, told BQ Prime's Niraj Shah in an interview.

These have created opportunities and enabled businesses to grow efficiently in India and engage with consumers, Shrivastav said.

"UPI has been a phenomenal success," Bhandari said.

The second mega trend that Temasek is focusing on is consumption. "India is the epitome of consumption market, with more than 60% of the gross domestic product of India made up of consumption," Shrivastav said.

The third mega trend for Temasek to invest in is healthcare. The healthcare portfolio includes hospitals, diagnostic centres, pharma and biotech.

Temasek is actively looking at the sustainability living space, which is the fourth mega trend they are focusing on.

"This space translates into carbon efficiency, clean energy and energy transformations," Shrivastav said. "We have investments in electric vehicle makers, a platform which generates energy and looking to do more."

Temasek currently has an investment in Ola Electric.

India's energy transition opportunities look reasonably sized, Bhandari said.

The Make-in-India and the production-linked incentive schemes are also creating investment opportunities in India. "We are looking for opportunities in this space also," Bhandari said.

According to Bhandari, these are the new spaces in the country that will grow in the future as policies are playing an important role in this.

Shrivastav is positive that India has the capabilities to be a successful base for manufacturing and the potential to become one of the largest manufacturers.