Recent Developments & Investments

Recent rapid infrastructure investments, the expansion of sectors covered by the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme, a surge in public investments, and the growing activity in Private Equity (PE) and Venture Capital (VC) have catalyzed substantial investments in the Indian market. Against a backdrop of economic stability and enhanced financial oversight, India has emerged as a burgeoning economic powerhouse, presenting investors with a prime opportunity for strategic investments. Here are some noteworthy recent investments and developments in this dynamic landscape:

According to the IVCA-EY monthly PE/VC roundup, August 2023 recorded investments worth US$ 5.2 billion.
In October 2023, Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) announced that a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) will invest Rs. 4,966.80 crore (US$ 596.63 million) into the company.
In October 2023, NCLT approved resolution plan of Himadri Speciality Chemical and Dalmia Bharat Refractories to acquire Birla Tyres.
In October 2023, Tata Motors acquired 27% in digital platform Freight Tiger.
In October 2023, Bajaj Finance acquired 26% stake in Pennant Technologies for Rs. 267.50 crore (US$ 32.18 million).
In September 2023, Hindalco signed a technology partnership with Italy-based, Metra SpA, to bring the latest aluminium extrusion technology to India for building rail coaches.
In September 2023, US chipmaker, Nvidia Corporation announced separate partnerships with Reliance and Tata group companies to help them develop AI-powered supercomputers, AI clouds and generative AI applications.
In September 2023, Singapore's investment firm, Temasek led US$ 140 million Ola Electric funding at a US$ 5.4 billion valuation.
In September 2023, Shree Renuka Sugars has inked a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% stake in Anamika Sugar Mills.
In September 2023, Reliance Retail Ventures acquired majority stake in Alia Bhatt’s Ed-a-Mamma brand.
In August 2023, Jewellery retailer Titan acquired another 27.18% stake in CaratLane for Rs. 4,621 crore (US$ 556.01 million).
In August 2023, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) invested Rs. 8,278 crore (US$ 994.39 million) in Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL) to get an equity stake of 0.99%.
In August 2023, the global investment firm Temasek invested Rs. 1,200 crore (US$ 144,15 million) in its electric vehicle subsidiary Mahindra Electric Automobile Ltd (MAEL).
In August 2023, Brookfield Asset Management entered into an agreement with Reliance Industries (RIL) to invest US$ 20-30 billion over the next decade in Australia's renewable energy sector.
In August 2023, Walmart paid US$ 1.4 billion to buy out hedge fund Tiger Global's stake in Flipkart.
In July 2023, Jio Financial partnered with BlackRock to launch an asset management firm with a combined investment of US$ 300 million.
In July 2023, U.S.-based investment firm, Bain Capital announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire 90% of Adani Capital and Adani Housing.
In July 2023, Bikaji Foods International acquires 49% stake in Bhujialalji for Rs. 5.10 crore (US$ 6,21,946.53).
In July 2023, India's leading telecom firm, Bharti Airtel has acquired additional 20.6% stake in the SD-WAN startup, Lavelle Networks.
In July 2023, Adani Enterprises acquired approximately 30% ownership in Start Enterprises Pvt Ltd (SEPL), the parent company of Trainman, an online platform for booking train tickets.
In July 2023, Walt Disney is considering options for its Star India business, including a joint venture or sale, as it looks to help the India business grow and reduce costs.
In July 2023, French advertising and public relations company Havas’s India arm has announced the acquisition of PivotRoots.
In June 2023, Allcargo Logistics completes acquisition of 30% stake in Gati-Kintetsu Express (GKEPL) for Rs. 406.71 crore (US$ 49.48 million).
In June 2023, BPEA EQT group (formerly Baring Private Equity Asia), in partnership with ChrysCapital, is set to acquire around 90% stake in Housing Development Finance Corporation's wholly-owned education financial subsidiary HDFC Credila Financial Services Ltd (HDFC Credila) for Rs. 9,060.5 crore (US$ 1.10 billion).
In June 2023, Private equity (PE) investors Blackstone Inc., BPEA EQT ((formerly Baring Private Equity Asia), CVC Capital Partners, and General Atlantic Service Company are competing to acquire Mumbai-based Indira IVF Hospital Pvt. Ltd.
In June 2023, Tata Communications is set to acquire US-based enterprise messaging firm Kaleyra for US$ 100 million in an all-cash deal.
In June 2023, Asian Paints acquires an additional 11% stake in White Teak.
In May 2023, JSW Steel to acquire National Steel and Agro Industries for Rs. 621 crore (US$ 75.73 million).
In April 2023, foreigners bought US$ 1.4 billion of Indian equities, followed by US$ 5.3 billion in May (the highest investment by FPIs in the last six months), and US$ 3.7 billion in June.
From January-February 2023, the startups managed to raise US$ 2.91 billion across 258 deals.
From January-February 2023, the startups managed to raise US$ 2.91 billion across 258 deals.
Private equity investment in real estate remained stable in FY23 at US$ 4.2 billion, of which 22% contribution came from domestic investors. Delhi-NCR market received 32% of the total investment.

In Q1 (January-March) of 2023:

The largest funding deal was the Rs. 5,700 crore (US$ 700 million) investment by global private equity investors, GIC and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) in clean energy-focused, Greenko Group.
Delhi-NCR topped the chart for highest PE investments (by value) in a city, while Bangalore topped the chart for highest VC investments (by volume and value) in a city.
110 DPIIT registered startups raised funding worth Rs. 7,427 crore (US$ 904 million).
IT & ITeS companies topped the industry chart attracting investments worth US$ 2.28 billion led by the investments in Lenskart, PhonePe, and InsuranceDekho.
Funds with AIF vehicles participated in 90 investments worth Rs. 13,852 crore (US$ 1.69 billion). The largest deal involving funds with AIF vehicles was the US$ 150 million investment in insur-tech company InsuranceDekho (by Avataar Venture Partners, InvestCorp Group, LeapFrog, TVS Capital, and Goldman Sachs), followed by the US$ 118 million investment in organic food exporter Suminter India Organics (by responsibility, IFU, Capricorn, and Morgan Stanley).
Super angels and angel networks made 96 investments. The largest funding deal involving angel investors was the US$ 150 million investment in seafood unicorn Licious, which saw the participation from Mr. Haresh Chawla (Partner at True North), Mr. Aman Gupta (Co-Founder and CMO at Boat Lifestyle) and Mr. Nithin and Mr. Nikhil Kamath (Founder & CEO at Zerodha).

In February 2023, PE investments stood at Rs. 8,368 crore (US$ 1.01 billion) and VC investments stood at Rs. 1,613 crore (US$ 195 million) across 35 deals.
The largest VC investment during February 2023 was the US$ 20 million investment each in electric vehicle (EV) fleet operator Zypp Electric (led by Taiwanese EV maker and battery-swapping company Gogoro) and in commerce enablement platform for MSMEs Mintoak (led by PayPal Ventures with participation from British International Investment or BII and existing investors).
The largest funding deal announced during February, 2023 was the Rs. 1,200 crore (US$ 144.7 million) investment by Multiples PE and State Bank of India in Murugappa Group’s EV unit Tl Clean Mobility.
PE/VC investments in November 2022 recorded US$ 4 billion, 18% higher than in October 2022. Moreover, November 2022 recorded seven large deals (deals of value greater than US$ 100 million) aggregating US$ 2.8 billion. The buyouts were the highest in terms of value followed by US$ 1.8 billion across four deals followed by Startup investments were the second highest, recording US$ 903 million across 51 deals.
November 2022 recorded total fundraises of US$ 1.9 billion, as compared to US$ 610 million raised in November 2021.
In September 2022, PE/VC investments in India stood at US$ 2 billion across 73 deals.
Infrastructure was the top sector in November 2022, driven by investments in clean energy, with US$ 1.6 billion in PE/VC investments across six deals.
Startup PE/VC investing in India stood at US$ 24 billion in 2022-23.
Sequoia Capital India was the most active VC investor in 2022 with 73 investments, followed by Accel India and Better Capital with 57 investments each. Tiger Global took third place with 50 investments.
In September 2022, FDI equity inflow into India stood at US$ 2.97 billion.
In November 2022, the buyouts were the highest in terms of value followed by US$ 1.8 billion across four deals followed by Startup investments were the second highest, recording US$ 903 million across 51 deals.
Private equity and venture capital firms invested US$ 46 billion across 1,261 deals in calendar year 2022.
In 2022, M&A deals in India soared to US$ 126.09 billion across 1,185 deals. However, the growth rate of 141% was due to the HDFC Bank and Housing Development Finance Corporation merger which was worth US$ 57 billion.

In December 2022:

A Gurugram-based battery swapping solutions provider, Battery Smart raised Rs. 75 crore (US$ 9.24 million) from Stride Ventures.
A food-tech start-up, SaveEat has raised US$ 5 million from Credent Investment Pvt Ltd to expand its business operations in Mumbai, Pune, and Bengaluru.
Aquaconnect, an aquaculture platform bagged Rs. 120 crore (US$ 15 million) from Lok Capital, Louis Dreyfus Company Ventures, and Suneight Investment for business expansion.

In November 2022:

Energy storage solutions startup Clean Electric bagged Rs. 18 crore (US$ 2.2 million) in a funding round led by early-stage venture capital firm Kalaari Capital.
Prismforce, a SaaS startup, raised US$ 13.6 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital India to enhance its product suite, strengthen marketing, and grow its talent base.
CashKaro raised Rs. 130 crore (US$ 16.02 million) in a Series C funding round led by Affle Global Pte. Ltd (AGPL) for the expansion of new technology and product development.

In October 2022:

Shardeum, an EVM-based shared blockchain startup raised a seed round of Rs. 150 crore (US$ 18.28 million) from 60 investors.
A D2C footwear start-up, Yoho raised Rs. 20 crore (US$ 2.46 million) from Softbank Vision Fund, Rukam Capital, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma (founder of Paytm) along with participation from other investors.
A real estate developer, Urbanrise/Alliance Group raised Rs. 260 crore (US$ 31 million) from Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd (MOPE).

In October 2022:

Singapore-based investment firm Temasek has invested US$ 85 million in Goa-based diagnostics chain, Molbio Diagnostics Pvt. Ltd, which values the company at US$ 1.6 billion.
Google-backed DotPe has raised US$ 54.4 million in a funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek.
In its most recent round of fundraising, the space technology startup Skyroot Aerospace raised US$ 51 million, with GIC of Singapore serving as the round's lead investor.
Education-focused non-bank lender, Avanse Financial Services, raised roughly Rs. 390 crore (US$ 47.35 million) from its current shareholders, Warburg Pincus, and International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The Hero Group and US private equity company KKR will invest US$ 450 million in Hero Future Energies (HFE). Along with eventually entering new markets, the investment will assist HFE in increasing capacity and capabilities across technologies like solar, wind, battery storage, and green hydrogen.
Reliance Power has raised Rs. 933 crore (US$ 113.28 million) through a private placement of shares to VFSI Holdings, an affiliate of investment firm Varde Partners.

In FY22, net inflows into mutual funds stood at Rs. 2.46 lakh crore (US$ 30.93 billion).
India’s sovereign wealth fund, National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) announced that it would invest Rs. 2,250 crore (US$ 282 million) to acquire around 22.5% stake in Hindustan Ports Pvt. Ltd (HPPL).
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) announced plans to invest Rs. 2,200 crore (US$ 275.89 million) into IIFL Finance for a 20% stake in the company.
Shriram Transport Finance Company (STFC) secured a loan of US$ 250 million from the US Development Finance Corporation (DFC).
In May 2022, Bodhi Tree announced plans to invest US$ 600 million in ALLEN Career Institute to build India's largest test-prep company.