Temasek doubles down on India; sees long-term opportunities in family businesses

Mumbai: Growing openness of large family-owned businesses to partnering with institutional investors is one of the biggest structural shifts in the Indian market, said Ravi Lambah, head of India at Temasek.

"Every family wants to create long-term value,” Lambah told ET in an interview Wednesday. “If we can help strengthen governance, prepare businesses for IPOs, support acquisitions, and leverage AI to improve operations, it becomes a win-win partnership.”

In 2025, Singapore’s investment firm acquired about a 10% stake in family-run snacks maker Haldiram's for $1 billion.


According to Lambah, generational transitions in family-owned businesses are creating attractive long-term investment opportunities rather than structural risks.

"Some next-generation family members may choose to pursue other ventures, while others opt to professionalise management and retain ownership of the business,” he said. “We're seeing this not just in India but across Europe and the US.”

"If the business is fundamentally strong, these transitions can be managed, making it a good investment for us, and a good long-term solution for the family," Lambah said.

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Having built an India portfolio of around $42 billion, Temasek plans to continue investing $3 billion annually in this market, focusing on long-term opportunities in healthcare, financial services, consumer businesses, and the energy transition.

Its major investments include Manipal Hospitals, CleanMax, Rebel Foods, Ola Electric, Lenskart, Mahindra Electric SUVs, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, AU Small Finance Bank, NSE, and Skyroot Aerospace. It also has significant exposure to Bharti Airtel through its stake in Singapore Telecommunications or Singtel.

While acknowledging abundant global liquidity has lifted valuations for quality Indian assets, Lambah said Temasek isn’t under pressure to invest simply because capital is available.

"There is dry powder globally and valuations have become volatile,” he said. “But because we don't have a fund life, we don't need to deploy capital in a particular year. We can wait for the right opportunity.”

He added that as India's economy and capital markets have expanded, larger deal sizes have become a natural consequence.

"The Indian stock market has grown from around $1.7 trillion a decade ago to nearly $5 trillion today,” he said. “As businesses become larger, it makes sense for us to deploy more capital into fewer, high-quality companies.”

India's share in Temasek's S$518 billion portfolio fell to 7% as of March 31, 2026, from 9% a year earlier, according to the company’s report.

Lambah attributed the decline primarily to two large transactions completed during the year — the exit from Temasek's investment in its Schneider Electric India joint venture, valued at over $6 billion, and Singtel's sale of nearly $3 billion worth of Bharti Airtel shares.

Last year, Temasek divested its 35% stake in its Indian joint venture to French electrical equipment maker Schneider Electric for 5.5 billion euros ($6.4 billion) in cash.

"If you add those two transactions alone, the portfolio naturally comes down,” said Lambah. “We continue to view India very positively and remain committed for the long term.”

Temasek has invested nearly $9 billion in India over the past three years and remains on track to meet its previously announced investment plans.

Lambah emphasised that unlike private equity funds that operate under fixed fund lives, Temasek invests directly from its balance sheet, giving it the flexibility to wait for the right opportunities instead of deploying capital under time pressure.

Healthcare remains one of Temasek's strongest investment themes in India, with existing investments including Manipal Hospitals, Medanta, Dr Agarwal Eye Hospitals and Cloudnine.

Lambah said he expects AI to strengthen rather than disrupt healthcare delivery. "Healthcare services are unlikely to be negatively affected by AI,” he said. “AI can improve operational efficiency, patient interaction and clinical processes."

Pharmaceuticals also remain an attractive bet as AI is expected to accelerate drug discovery and predictive research. "Drug discovery could benefit significantly from AI, making pharma an exciting long-term opportunity."

Alongside healthcare, Temasek continues to favour financial services, which Lambah termed as a direct proxy for India's economic growth, besides consumer businesses and industrial manufacturing.

Energy transition is emerging as another major focus for Temasek following investments such as O2 Power and, more recently, CleanMax.

In 2024, JSW Neo Energy had acquired O2 Power, the India renewable energy platform owned by Swedish fund EQT Partners and Temasek Holdings.

Although renewable energy technologies continue to evolve, Lambah indicated that decarbonisation and climate-related investments remain an important part of Temasek’s long-term strategy, with the firm evaluating opportunities across clean energy, industrial decarbonisation and related infrastructure.

Lambah said India's long-term fundamentals continue to stand out globally.

"In the last 10 years, India has delivered the highest returns for Temasek among all our major markets,” he said. “That gives us confidence to continue investing for the long term.”