Blackstone came close to giving up on India; now it calls the country its best bet

Blackstone Inc.’s India strategy began with uncertainty and stalled during the global financial crisis. Two decades later, India has delivered the investment firm’s highest private equity returns worldwide, according to Blackstone President Jon Gray.

“We had sort of a skeleton crew. We didn’t really have a great defined strategy,” Gray said in an interview with Bloomberg Television’s Wall Street Week. “We couldn’t make the numbers work. So we did basically nothing.”

That early setback forced Blackstone to rethink its approach to India.


“We said, ‘You know what? We just need a better approach.’”

From limited presence to major returns

Blackstone later changed its strategy and began taking majority or equal-control stakes in companies. It focused on sectors including information technology services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing.

The shift helped make India Blackstone’s strongest market for private equity returns globally.

Gray said the firm sees further opportunities as India’s economy continues to expand.

“It takes time to get to a stage where you can really begin to expand your growth rate,” Gray said. “And I do feel like India is getting closer and closer to that tipping point.”

India’s gross domestic product has grown almost fivefold to $3.69 trillion since 2005, according to the information cited in the report. The country has moved from 14th place in the global economy to fourth, overtaking Germany, the UK and France.

India is home to 1.47 billion people and became the world’s most populous country after surpassing China in 2023. Its economy grew 7.6% in fiscal 2026, according to the World Bank.

India’s talent advantage

Mohandas Pai, former chief financial officer of Infosys Ltd., said around 11 million people graduate from Indian colleges each year.

The figure includes roughly 800,000 to 1 million engineers or near-engineers. Pai said about 500,000 of them are strong enough to be trained for the technology industry.

He said the US and India could combine their strengths to compete in global technology. India has the talent, while the US has financial capital, markets and marketing, Pai said.

“We can conquer the entire world,” he said.

Challenges remain

Gray said the India opportunity would not be free of risks. He pointed to disagreements between the US and India over tariffs and higher energy costs caused by the US war with Iran.

“There will be bumps,” he said.