FM Sitharaman meets global investors in Singapore to explore long-term investment opportunities in India

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday met senior executives of global investment funds, banks and companies in Singapore to explore opportunities to expand long-term investments in India across infrastructure, financial services, healthcare, renewable energy, and manufacturing. 

The discussions focused on India's growth prospects and ways to mobilise global institutional and private capital to support the country's development priorities, according to the finance ministry. 

Sitharaman met Lim Chow Kiat, CEO of Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC, and Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara, CEO of Temasek Holdings, to discuss investments in infrastructure, financial services, and other growth-oriented sectors. Opportunities to channel investments through the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) also featured in the discussions with Temasek. 

She also met Jim Coulter, executive chairman and founding partner of private equity firm TPG, to discuss opportunities for private capital in India's expanding investment landscape. 

Healthcare, GIFT City attract investor interest 

Healthcare infrastructure was another focus, with Prem Nair, CEO of IHH Healthcare, and Ashok Pandit, the group's chief commercial officer. The discussions covered hospital infrastructure and capacity expansion to improve access to quality healthcare. 

Sitharaman also met Janet Perumal, senior managing director and head of investments for Asia at Wellington Management, to discuss opportunities through GIFT International Financial Services Centre (GIFT IFSC) and NIIF. Wellington Management appreciated India's policy reforms, including changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST), liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) rules and disinvestment, the ministry said. 

Financial connectivity, trade finance on agenda 

Sitharaman met DBS Group CEO Tan Su Shan, Han Kwee Juan, head of the institutional banking group at DBS, and Rajat Verma, CEO of DBS India, to discuss financing for economic growth and infrastructure development. 

The discussions also covered India-Singapore cooperation in financial connectivity, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), semiconductors and renewable energy. The two sides explored leveraging the Gold Bullion Exchange and GIFT City to facilitate greater participation by global investors in India. 

In a separate meeting, Standard Chartered Bank CEO Bill Winters discussed trade finance, cross-border banking and financial flows with the finance minister. The talks also covered tax and regulatory frameworks to enable wider adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and opportunities to establish or expand treasury centres at GIFT IFSC. 

BII discussions focus on climate finance 

Mobilising long-term capital was the focus of Sitharaman's meeting with Leslie Maasdorp, CEO of British International Investment (BII), accompanied by Srini Nagarajan, managing director and head of Asia. 

The discussions covered investments in renewable energy, electric mobility, financial services, manufacturing and infrastructure. The two sides also explored using AI to improve productivity and strengthen supply chains, alongside blended finance for climate adaptation, resilience, and sustainable agriculture, the ministry said.