Alternative investment manager Blackstone plans to bring all its global pools of capital to India, Senior Managing Director Mukesh Mehta said yesterday.

He spoke to Infralogic in Mumbai on the sidelines of a conference hosted by the Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA).

The New York-headquartered manager runs multiple strategies globally including infrastructure, energy transition, life sciences, growth and tactical opportunities.

In India, it has so far focused on real estate and private equity.

The market has evolved to a point where it is dominated by buyouts, Mehta said earlier as part of a panel discussing private equity buyouts. This indicates that the “India story is just beginning,” he said, adding that the country has been Blackstone’s best-performing market for private equity for a decade.

In 2008, Blackstone pulled out of a USD 5bn India Infrastructure Fund in which it was set to be a joint venture partner with the India Infrastructure Finance Company and Citigroup. The fund was set up to invest in roads, ports and power projects.

Energy transition
Earlier in the day, India’s Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran said that nuclear will play a major role in the transition to green energy.

The technology and sequencing of the fuel sources will be key, he said, since the grid will not be able to immediately accommodate a large amount of renewable electricity supplied to it.

For a country as large as India, a premature transition could lead to energy intermittency and spiralling capital costs, he said.

He cited Germany’s example, where the government had to restart thermal power plants last December after weak winds led to a drop-off in clean power.

Gas-fired electricity increased by 79% in November compared to October, Reuters reported in December. Power from coal-fired plants reached 20-month highs with utilities having to look for alternative sources due to a fall in solar generation, according to the report.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s move in the federal budget earlier this month to allow private investment in nuclear energy is a significant step forward, said Nageswaran.

“As we embrace clean energy, we must remain pragmatic and not turn global energy trends into a rigid doctrine,” he said.