Blackstone names India its top private equity market as growth accelerates

Blackstone President Jon Gray said India has become the firm’s top private equity market globally, following a strategic reset after initial struggles in the country. Blackstone initially operated with a small team and unclear strategy, doing little after the global financial crisis. The firm later shifted to pursuing majority or equal-control stakes in businesses, focusing on IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing, with Gray noting India is approaching an economic “tipping point.” India’s GDP has grown nearly fivefold since 2005 to $3.69 trillion, ranking fourth globally, while its population of 1.47 billion became the world’s largest in 2023. Gray acknowledged challenges like tariffs and energy costs from the US-Iran war, but credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration for improving physical, legal and capital-markets infrastructure, saying “a lot of things are falling into place.”