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Singapore's state investment firm Temasek is preparing to step up investments in India, saying it remains on track to deploy billions of dollars despite heightened global uncertainty and sees significant long-term opportunities across healthcare, financial services, consumer businesses and artificial intelligence.
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Ravi Lambah, Head of Strategic Initiatives and Head of India at Temasek International, said the firm has already deployed nearly $9 billion in India over the last three years and remains ready to invest more if the right opportunities emerge. "We're on track. We've deployed close to $9 billion, and it's not like we're slowing down. We are happy to keep looking for opportunities and deploy more capital," Lambah told CNBC-TV18.
The comments come even as India's share in Temasek's global portfolio declined to 7% from 9% a year earlier, prompting questions over whether elevated valuations were beginning to temper the investor's enthusiasm.
Lambah dismissed that interpretation, saying the decline was largely the result of portfolio actions rather than a reassessment of India. The two biggest drivers, he said, were Temasek's multi-billion-dollar exit from Schneider Electric India and Singapore Telecommunications' partial stake sale in Bharti Airtel. "The 7% is simply an outcome. We don't manage the portfolio by country or sector. We're driven bottom-up," he said, adding that India continues to be one of Temasek's strongest-performing markets despite currency headwinds.
That long-term conviction now extends beyond financial services, which has historically been Temasek's biggest success story in India.
Lambah said healthcare is emerging as one of the firm's highest-conviction sectors as demand for quality medical infrastructure continues to rise.
"We have investments in Manipal, Medanta, Dr Agarwal's, Cloudnine and several healthcare businesses. Healthcare services we see as fundamentally very attractive," he said.
Rather than simply monetising mature assets such as Manipal Health, which has filed for what could become India's largest healthcare IPO, Temasek is looking at the next phase of value creation. "We'll continue to back our portfolio companies to do M&A as well," Lambah said, signalling that acquisitions could remain an important growth lever across its healthcare portfolio.
Financial services, however, remain central to Temasek's India strategy. Beyond its holdings in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, the investor has steadily expanded into insurance, asset management, exchanges and fintech through investments in companies such as HDFC Life, SBI Life, HDFC AMC, NSE India, Pine Labs and PB Fintech.
Asked where the next decade's biggest opportunity lies, Lambah pointed beyond traditional lending. "Insurance remains attractive. Asset management is another strong theme. Wealth management is a space where we will see a tremendous amount of opportunity," he said, adding that AI and data will increasingly differentiate financial institutions over time.
Despite recent earnings disappointments from some private lenders and their underperformance versus state-owned banks, Temasek remains firmly constructive on the sector.
Also Read: Samsung in talks to invest up to 1 billion euros in French AI startup Mistral: Report
"We're not fazed by one or two years of volatility. We see banks as a proxy for India's economic growth," he said, arguing that strong asset quality, healthy capital positions and India's structural credit expansion continue to underpin the investment case.
Artificial intelligence, meanwhile, has become Temasek's defining global investment theme. The firm plans to raise AI-related investments to as much as 15% of its portfolio over the next five years, doubling its current exposure. "AI is not just the flavour of the day, it's the future. It will become the next infrastructure utility across enterprises," Lambah said.
While Temasek has backed frontier AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic globally, Lambah believes India's biggest opportunity lies elsewhere. "We see the opportunity in India around the application layer. India will play well when it comes to the application layer for AI," he said.
He also defended Temasek's decision to invest in both OpenAI and Anthropic, saying the industry is still too early in its evolution to identify a single winner. "The journey has just started and there'll be many winners," he said.
Temasek's optimism also extends to India's consumption story, even as urban demand has softened and questions have emerged over lofty private-market valuations. The investor owns stakes in Haldiram Snacks, Lenskart, HealthKart, Rebel Foods, Cure.Fit and Licious, among others. "Consumption has been weak in certain sectors, but we invest through the life cycle. When we see weakness because we believe in the long term, we will double down on our investments," Lambah said.
The same philosophy applies to quick commerce, where Temasek remains invested through Eternal, formerly Zomato. Even as competition intensifies with Amazon, Flipkart and Zepto expanding aggressively, Lambah believes the sector is still in its infancy. "It's only just started. It's just the tip of the iceberg," he said, adding that the business still has a long runway provided companies execute efficiently and scale profitably.
On exits, Lambah rejected the notion that public listings automatically trigger monetisation. "We don't look at the IPO as an exit opportunity. If we're compounding equity, we will stay invested," he said.
Looking ahead, Lambah said geopolitical tensions, oil prices and currency volatility warrant caution, but they do not change Temasek's long-term investment framework. "We are being cautious, but we see this being a strong investment year," he said.
Also Read: Keen to bring services globally, India a great candidate: Amazon Leo executive on satellite plans
In an interview with CNBC-TV18, Ravi Lambah, Head of Strategic Initiatives and Head of India at Temasek International, said the firm has already deployed nearly $9 billion in India over the last three years and remains ready to invest more if the right opportunities emerge. "We're on track. We've deployed close to $9 billion, and it's not like we're slowing down. We are happy to keep looking for opportunities and deploy more capital," Lambah told CNBC-TV18.
The comments come even as India's share in Temasek's global portfolio declined to 7% from 9% a year earlier, prompting questions over whether elevated valuations were beginning to temper the investor's enthusiasm.
Lambah dismissed that interpretation, saying the decline was largely the result of portfolio actions rather than a reassessment of India. The two biggest drivers, he said, were Temasek's multi-billion-dollar exit from Schneider Electric India and Singapore Telecommunications' partial stake sale in Bharti Airtel. "The 7% is simply an outcome. We don't manage the portfolio by country or sector. We're driven bottom-up," he said, adding that India continues to be one of Temasek's strongest-performing markets despite currency headwinds.
That long-term conviction now extends beyond financial services, which has historically been Temasek's biggest success story in India.
Lambah said healthcare is emerging as one of the firm's highest-conviction sectors as demand for quality medical infrastructure continues to rise.
"We have investments in Manipal, Medanta, Dr Agarwal's, Cloudnine and several healthcare businesses. Healthcare services we see as fundamentally very attractive," he said.
Rather than simply monetising mature assets such as Manipal Health, which has filed for what could become India's largest healthcare IPO, Temasek is looking at the next phase of value creation. "We'll continue to back our portfolio companies to do M&A as well," Lambah said, signalling that acquisitions could remain an important growth lever across its healthcare portfolio.
Financial services, however, remain central to Temasek's India strategy. Beyond its holdings in HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and AU Small Finance Bank, the investor has steadily expanded into insurance, asset management, exchanges and fintech through investments in companies such as HDFC Life, SBI Life, HDFC AMC, NSE India, Pine Labs and PB Fintech.
Asked where the next decade's biggest opportunity lies, Lambah pointed beyond traditional lending. "Insurance remains attractive. Asset management is another strong theme. Wealth management is a space where we will see a tremendous amount of opportunity," he said, adding that AI and data will increasingly differentiate financial institutions over time.
Despite recent earnings disappointments from some private lenders and their underperformance versus state-owned banks, Temasek remains firmly constructive on the sector.
Also Read: Samsung in talks to invest up to 1 billion euros in French AI startup Mistral: Report
"We're not fazed by one or two years of volatility. We see banks as a proxy for India's economic growth," he said, arguing that strong asset quality, healthy capital positions and India's structural credit expansion continue to underpin the investment case.
Artificial intelligence, meanwhile, has become Temasek's defining global investment theme. The firm plans to raise AI-related investments to as much as 15% of its portfolio over the next five years, doubling its current exposure. "AI is not just the flavour of the day, it's the future. It will become the next infrastructure utility across enterprises," Lambah said.
While Temasek has backed frontier AI companies including OpenAI and Anthropic globally, Lambah believes India's biggest opportunity lies elsewhere. "We see the opportunity in India around the application layer. India will play well when it comes to the application layer for AI," he said.
He also defended Temasek's decision to invest in both OpenAI and Anthropic, saying the industry is still too early in its evolution to identify a single winner. "The journey has just started and there'll be many winners," he said.
Temasek's optimism also extends to India's consumption story, even as urban demand has softened and questions have emerged over lofty private-market valuations. The investor owns stakes in Haldiram Snacks, Lenskart, HealthKart, Rebel Foods, Cure.Fit and Licious, among others. "Consumption has been weak in certain sectors, but we invest through the life cycle. When we see weakness because we believe in the long term, we will double down on our investments," Lambah said.
The same philosophy applies to quick commerce, where Temasek remains invested through Eternal, formerly Zomato. Even as competition intensifies with Amazon, Flipkart and Zepto expanding aggressively, Lambah believes the sector is still in its infancy. "It's only just started. It's just the tip of the iceberg," he said, adding that the business still has a long runway provided companies execute efficiently and scale profitably.
On exits, Lambah rejected the notion that public listings automatically trigger monetisation. "We don't look at the IPO as an exit opportunity. If we're compounding equity, we will stay invested," he said.
Looking ahead, Lambah said geopolitical tensions, oil prices and currency volatility warrant caution, but they do not change Temasek's long-term investment framework. "We are being cautious, but we see this being a strong investment year," he said.
Also Read: Keen to bring services globally, India a great candidate: Amazon Leo executive on satellite plans
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