Temasek's India exposure falls to USD 42 bln in FY26; company says India important market

Mumbai: Singaporean investment firm Temasek's India exposure declined to USD 42 billion in the financial year ending March 2026 from USD 50 billion a year ago, but key executives at the platform stressed on Wednesday that the country is an important destination for the state-run vehicle.

Company executives attributed the drop in exposure to the USD 6.4-billion exit in Schneider Electric in August 2025, and insisted that currency fluctuations did not have a material impact on the number.

Stating that the firm is optimistic on the country, managing director Vishesh Shrivastav told PTI that India's strength includes a young population, entrepreneurial talent and a strong and stable policy environment, while the risks largely emanate from the global environment, like US tariffs seen in 2025 and also geopolitics.


Also read: Temasek targets big jump in AI investments as value of portfolio hits record high

"We are overweight on India. The country's share in the global GDP is 4 per cent, our allocations are much higher," Mohit Bhandari, also a managing director at the firm, said.

India's contribution to the overall Temasek pie, which moved up to SGD 518 billion, reduced to 7 per cent from 9 per cent in FY26 as the value of the overall exposure declined.

The executives said the decline is more of a short-term change because of a particular activity in a given year, and reiterated that they are optimistic about India, where it continues to look at ways of growing the portfolio.

When asked for a pipeline of deals which the firm is chasing for investments in India, the executives refrained from putting a number.

Earlier, they had mentioned up to USD 10 billion over a three-year term and opened up about deploying up to USD 3 billion per year.

A bulk of investments in FY26 for the firm were follow-ons into existing portfolio companies, and there were selective bets on entities in newer sectors like renewable energy, where it invested in Cleanmax.

In a year which was dominated by concerns over flight of foreign capital from the country's stock markets, Temasek was a net positive investor in the public markets in FY26, Shrivastava said.

He explained that these were follow-on investments in stocks, which were already being watched closely for years by its teams and the lower valuations due to external events made them an interesting candidate.

"Sometimes, being contrarian in the public markets helps," he said.

Temasek understands the consumer, healthcare and financial services space, where it has been investing for two decades now, and is looking to up its presence in the infrastructure and the industrials space, the executives said.

On artificial intelligence, which has been marked by the parent as a key focus area with a commitment to increase allocations, Bhandari said Temsek has allocated dedicated resources to understand and study the sector since 2019 when AI was not a buzzword.

When asked if it is keen to invest in the mushrooming data centres across various parts of the country, Bhandari said it may or may not take such bets. He added, "India will be well served with the application layer of AI."

India continues to be the most rewarding market for the firm if looked at from a ten-year perspective, and the USD 42 billion exposure represents a four-time jump over the last ten years, the executives said.