Blackstone's entry into India started haltingly, then collided with the global financial crisis. Jon Gray, the firm's president, recalled that early on "We did basically nothing," before concluding, "You know what? We just need a better approach." That reassessment led Blackstone to begin favoring majority or 50-50 stakes and to focus on IT services, commercial real estate, and domestically oriented manufacturing. By 2026, Gray said India had delivered Blackstone's highest private equity returns anywhere.
Gray told Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week that it takes time for an economy to reach a phase where its growth can meaningfully accelerate, and he believes India is "getting closer and closer to that tipping point." He called it the fastest-growing major economy and pointed to past bottlenecks that weren't only about roads and ports but also the legal system and capital markets. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government has done a "phenomenal job" addressing those constraints. Gray added that patience has been essential for Blackstone's India strategy.
Wall Street Week's special from India spotlighted a changing investment landscape, Bangalore's role as a global hub, Hyderabad's ascent and even cricket's pull for capital. You can watch it on Bloomberg Television or Bloomberg.com.
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India's scale is hard to ignore: GDP has nearly quintupled since a 2005 World Bank ranking to $3.69 trillion and fourth place globally, ahead of Germany, the UK and France. The country now counts 1.47 billion people and overtook China as the most-populous nation in 2023. The World Bank says growth quickened to 7.6% in fiscal 2026.
Mohandas Pai, the former Infosys Ltd. CFO whose company became the first Indian firm to list on a US exchange in 1999, said that about 11 million students complete college annually, of whom roughly 800,000 to 1 million are engineers or near-engineers. Around 500,000 of them, he added, are strong candidates for training in tech. Pai argued that pairing India's human capital with US financial capital, markets and marketing could dominate global tech, concluding, "We can conquer the entire world."
Gray also pointed out that the US-India relationship continues to encounter hurdles, including tariffs and the impact of the US war with Iran in pushing up energy prices. "There will be bumps," he said, though he emphasized the relationship has steadily moved toward tighter alignment as India leans deeper into capitalism, regardless of which US party is in charge.
Put simply, India's combination of faster growth, a swelling middle class and improved infrastructure is pulling in global investors. Blackstone's experience underscores why: tighter control in targeted sectors and a long runway can compound returns, even if there are policy hiccups and energy-price shocks along the way. If you're tracking where the next decade's innovation and demand might cluster, India's scale and talent pipeline suggest that deal flow and business formation may keep accelerating.
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