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Singapore's
Temasek Holdings bullish on India
Wed February 9, 2005 8:14 PM GMT+05:30
BOMBAY
(Reuters) - Temasek Holdings is increasingly upbeat on
India and has invested over $1 billion in the country
in the past year, the chief of its Indian arm said at
a technology seminar on Wednesday.
"Throughout the 1990s
we were cautious. We made only two investments from 1993
to 2003. Now we are optimistic," Manish Kejriwal
said at a seminar organised by the National Association
of Software and Service Companies.
"We have deployed
in excess of $1 billion in India in the last one year."
Temasek Holdings Pvt Ltd.
is the Indian arm of Singapore state investment agency
Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd.
He said the investments
had come through private equity, foreign portfolio investments
and foreign direct investment.
Kejriwal said the company
was optimistic about India's potential as a resources
base for global companies, especially in areas such as
information technology, back-office services and research
and development for the automotive sector.
Abhay Havaldar, partner
at global investment firm General Atlantic Partners LLC,
also said global investor interest in India was rising.
"We are excited about
India. What has changed in the last few years is that
many investors have been able to exit and transfer the
money back," he said.
He said investors liked
the fact that they were able to exit the capital markets
without difficulty, which added to the country's attractiveness
as an investment destination for global capital.
General Atlantic has made
three investments in India in the past two years.
Foreign investments in
India, including private investments, have been rising
because of the country's solid growth trend.
Foreign portfolio investors
sunk a record $9.1 billion in Indian assets in 2004, while
private equity investments were estimated at around $1.0-$1.5
billion.
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