Blackstone CEO shares plans to invest $40 bn in India during meeting with PM

In a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Chairman and CEO of the Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman spoke about how he is “very optimistic about India’s potential” and further discussed the promising investment opportunities in India. During the meeting, Schwarzman stated his intent to invest in various sectors including real estate, education, fashion, packaging and housing finance. According to the statement released by the External Affairs Ministry, the American global investment firm emphasised working on the National Infrastructure Pipeline and National Monetisation Pipeline projects in India. Further, Blackstone’s CEO explicated its vision to make India a ‘commercial real estate hub’ in the world. Blackstone, which had started its operations in India in 2006, has so far invested USD 60 Billion. The key areas of the company’s investments in India include private equity, real estate, education, fashion, packaging and housing finance. Notably, Blackstone Real Estate Fund is the largest owner of commercial real estate in India. In 2019, it launched India’s first Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) with Embassy Group. Since then, the company has launched two REITs in the country. While meeting PM Modi, Blackstone’s CEO asserted its plan to invest another USD 40 billion of assets over the next five years in India. “I had a very good meeting with the Prime Minister. I told him that Blackstone had already invested 60 billion US dollars in assets in India. And over the next five years, we’re planning another USD 40 billion of assets,” Schwarzman said. Further, he reiterated that New Delhi has always been his favourite destination in terms of investment.