EQT Group plans $50 billion India investment

Global private equity firm EQT Group plans to invest approximately $50 billion in India over the next four years. The announcement was made by top executives at a media round table on Wednesday.

EQT's strategy will expand beyond large buyouts to include data centers, infrastructure, mid-market companies, early-stage ventures, and secondary transactions. The firm has already committed $10 billion in India through its global data-center platform, EdgeConneX, and expects to commit another $20 billion by 2030.

"In addition to this, we will deploy about $10-15 billion through our private equity strategies and other ancillary businesses like renewables, energy storage and infrastructure," said EQT chair Jean Eric Salata.

Investment Portfolio and History

India currently accounts for about 5% of EQT's global infrastructure portfolio and 25-30% of its overall Asia portfolio. Since 1998, EQT has deployed about $26 billion in the country across 30 investments, including roughly $7 billion in the past three years alone. The firm opened its Mumbai office 20 years ago in 2006.

Its portfolio includes companies like GeBBS Healthcare Solutions, Indira IVF, Credila, and Coforge. This latest expansion follows the April close of EQT's ninth private-equity fund at $15.6 billion, which the firm described as the largest ever raised in the Asia-Pacific region. India and Japan are each expected to account for about 20% of this new fund's allocation.

Broadening Investment Strategies

EQT is broadening its private-equity approach in India to include mid-market and early-stage investments. Nicholas Macksey, partner and co-head of private capital Asia, stated the goal is to be an end-to-end investor at every stage of a company's growth.

The mid-market strategy targets sectors including technology services and pharmaceuticals and healthcare, with investment sizes of $100-400 million. EQT typically takes a controlling stake and is usually the first institutional investor in the company. The firm has already invested in Niwas Housing Finance and Indium Software through this approach.

Its early-stage venture strategy, which began in Europe, is also expanding into India. It targets Series B and C companies with a proven product-market fit, with investments of $20-50 million for a 3-10% stake.

Evolving Exit Markets and Secondary Strategy

EQT's strategy is being shaped by improving avenues to return capital to investors. The firm returned about $40 billion globally in 2025, including $14 billion from Asia, with a significant portion coming from India, according to Hari Gopalakrishnan, partner and co-head of private capital Asia.

India is emerging as one of EQT's strongest markets for distributions to paid-in capital. The firm is also evaluating India's secondary private-equity market, aligning with a global strategy where it has executed several liquidity-focused transactions. Earlier this year, EQT completed the acquisition of secondary firm Coller Capital.

"Our thesis is that the secondary market is going to grow much faster than the overall private equity market," Salata said. He noted that India is at an earlier stage of development for secondary markets but believes it will eventually become a large market for GP-led transactions.

Executives pointed to a deeper IPO market and growing activity among financial and strategic buyers as evidence of better exit options. Gopalakrishnan said India's buyout market has grown sevenfold to $15 billion over the past 13 years, driven by founding families seeking succession solutions for generational businesses. He also noted increased interest from global strategic investors attracted by India's large population and favorable demographics, which creates potential buyers for assets when EQT looks to exit.