Temasek invests $1.5 bn in India in Aprjun, looks to expand further

MUMBAI: Singapore’s Temasek has invested $1.5 billion in India in the first three months of the latest financial year, and is expected to further increase its exposure to the country, senior executives at the global investment firm said.

For Temasek, which recorded a net portfolio value of $235 billion for the year ended March 31, the India portfolio stands at around $10 billion, with an average yearly investment of $1 billion in the last five years.

“We do not allocate by geography or sector. If we find more deals which meet our returns threshold, then we would invest more. We have a positive bias and we want to grow our portfolio here and we have certain focus areas where we want to put the capital to work,” Ravi Lambah, head—telecom, media and technology and joint head, India at Temasek, said in an interview on Thursday.

Latest investments by the Singapore-based investor include buying stakes in financial services business AU Small Finance Bank Ltd, port operator Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd and payments technology company Pine Labs.

“The long-term view is to step up India exposure and you are already seeing that happen this year. You may see more of that happening,” said R Venkatesh, managing director, India at Temasek.

“The world is heading into a difficult spot. We think there is a possibility of a US recession sometime in the next 12-18 months. So, given that, our approach is that we should moderate our pace of investments,” said Lambah.