India well placed to tackle US tariffs; see exposure doubling to USD 100 bn here: Blackstone

Mumbai, Mar 12 (PTI) In what can be viewed as a plan to increase its investments in the country, global private equity giant Blackstone on Wednesday said it aims to double its exposure in India to USD 100 billion.

The firm, which has been present in the country for the last two decades, has a USD 50 billion exposure to India, which includes its ongoing investments and the bets from which it has exited.

"We will double our exposure in India," Blackstone Private Equity's head of Asia Amit Dixit said without giving a timeline.

The firm's chairman Stephen A Schwarzman said it is looking to start infrastructure investments and credit business in the country.

Speaking to reporters here, he said India - its profitable market with the highest returns globally - is well placed to tackle the impact of US tariffs.

"I think, India is quite well placed," Schwarzman told reporters here, replying to a specific question on the impact of the US tariffs on the country, where it has over USD 50 billion of exposure.

Schwarzman, who has advised US President Donald Trump in the past and also backed his candidature in the run-up to the historic win last year, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had a "very good meeting" with the US President in which the two leaders agreed on a trade agreement.

"There are very few countries in the world which have had that treatment. India has already made some changes on higher tariff issues. I think it is a good framework for India, there will be more news about other countries than India and that is a happy place to be in (for India)," he added.

He said that Trump's plans will help boost manufacturing activity in the US and in turn, support the growth of its economy, which will help the world economy as well.

Sounding bullish on India's macroeconomic strengths, Schwarzman said one should not read a lot into the growth slowdown to the less than 6 per cent levels as against over 9 per cent when they entered India 20 years ago, pointing out that India is the fastest growing large economy in the world.

On the stock market correction, he wondered how the same people who were expecting a correction in the indices because of "frothy" valuation are the ones who are concerned about the correction.

"I think, the real economy from a long-term basis in India is excellent, and the overall growth rates here have been to the top in the world. So, I don't see anything on the horizon that's going to change that, certainly in the short or medium term," he noted.

Schwarzman said no government is always right on every decision it takes, and added that India can improve its chances by being less bureaucratic.

Dixit said its credit business will be focused on performing corporate credit under its credit business where it will support an entity or an individual in specific situations like acquisitions and stake buy, among others, where the banking system is not able to deliver.

However, none of the officials gave a timeline for the start of the two new ventures announced by the global chairman.

Schwarzman recalled that 20 years ago, conversations with Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani and Akhil Gupta led the firm to announce a USD 1 billion investment in India.

Dixit said at that time, the overall assets under management for the firm stood at USD 50 billion, which has now gone up to USD 1.1 trillion.

Pointing out that the scope for investing is very high in India, he said the country is at a point where the firm's assets under management stand at USD 50 billion.

He said the PE sector has undergone a lot of change in India, including the environment for large control deals getting better and a dramatic improvement in exit opportunities.

"India is a winner for the long term and I feel fortunate that we made the decision to invest in India," Schwarzman said. PTI AA BAL BAL