Blackstone’s India bet pays off as its best-performing market

Blackstone Inc. President Jon Gray says India has become the firm's best-performing private equity market globally, after an early strategy that stalled during the global financial crisis. The company now sees the country nearing a "tipping point" for faster growth. Blackstone shifted from a limited presence to taking majority or equal-control stakes in Indian companies, focusing on IT services, commercial real estate, and domestic manufacturing. India's GDP has grown nearly fivefold to $3.69 trillion since 2005, making it the world's fourth-largest economy. Gray acknowledged risks including US-India tariff disputes and higher energy costs from the US war with Iran. Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai highlighted India's talent pool of about 500,000 engineers annually as a key advantage for global competition.