India is Blackstone's best private equity market, says Jon Gray

India has become Blackstone's highest-returning private equity market globally, President and COO Jon Gray said. He recalled that the firm's early India operation was a small team without a defined strategy and that it made almost no investments as the numbers did not work, according to a Bloomberg report. Blackstone later sought majority or equal-control stakes in IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing. Gray flagged tariffs and energy costs as challenges.

Written by AI from Times Now · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 19 Sept 2026, 6:38 pm IST

Source

Times Now · read the original report ↗

#blackstone#private equity#jon gray#investment#india economy

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

India is Blackstone's highest-returning private equity market globally. — Attributed to Jon Gray in the source; no supporting return figures given.
Blackstone's early India operation was a 'skeleton crew' without a defined strategy and made almost no investments. — Direct quotes attributed to Gray, sourced to a Bloomberg report.
Blackstone now seeks majority or equal-control stakes, focusing on IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing. — Stated in the source without separate attribution or deal examples.
US-India ties face friction from tariffs and energy costs linked to the US war with Iran. — Attributed to Gray; the source offers no corroborating detail on either issue.
Gray credited PM Narendra Modi's administration with a 'phenomenal job' on infrastructure, including legal and capital-markets infrastructure. — Direct quote attributed to Gray in a Bloomberg Television interview.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Economic Analyst

When a firm of Blackstone's size says India is its highest-returning private equity market globally, that is a strong signal about Indian asset pricing — but it is market commentary, not an economic statistic. The real story is the strategy reset: according to the report, Jon Gray said the numbers only began to work once the firm moved from a thin presence with no clear plan to taking majority or equal-control stakes. The choice of IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing shows exactly where foreign capital sees its returns in India's growth.

Buying control rather than minority stakes means more capital at risk, but also far more say over operations and costs — a plausible driver of the higher returns cited.
The sector mix is not accidental: IT services offer dollar earnings, commercial real estate offers rent-backed steady cash flows, and domestic manufacturing is a play on local demand and shifting supply chains.
Gray's point that the binding constraint was infrastructure — not just roads and transport but legal and capital-markets plumbing — matters economically, because better plumbing lowers the cost of doing business and makes deals pencil out for more investors.
The gains are unevenly distributed: the high returns accrue mainly to global funds and their investors, while India's benefit is more indirect through jobs, built commercial space, technology and management capability — and this story carries no employment numbers.
Gray himself flags "bumps" from tariffs and energy costs, which could squeeze margins in export-facing sectors and add price pressure in an economy that imports much of its fuel.

What to watch — Watch whether other global funds follow the same shift towards control positions, and how far tariff friction and energy costs bite into margins in IT services and manufacturing.

This is one executive's assessment, with no verified figures on returns, investment size or job creation disclosed here, and it should not be read as a measure of the wider Indian economy's performance.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 4 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

Blackstone Inc., one of the world's largest alternative asset managers, entered India with a small team and no clear investment strategy, and the global financial crisis made it harder to build momentum. In an interview with Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week, President and COO Jon Gray said the firm did "basically nothing" in those early years because the numbers did not work. After a strategy reset focused on majority or equal-control stakes, India has become Blackstone's highest-returning private equity market globally, according to Gray. He linked the turnaround to improvements in India's physical, legal and capital-markets infrastructure, while flagging tariffs and energy costs as risks.

Key facts

Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray said India is now the firm's highest-returning private equity market globally, according to a Bloomberg report.
Gray described Blackstone's early India operation as "sort of a skeleton crew" without a "great defined strategy".
He said the firm "couldn't make the numbers work" in the early phase and "did basically nothing".
The global financial crisis made it harder for Blackstone to build momentum in India in its early years.
After the reset, Blackstone pursued majority or equal-control positions rather than a limited presence.
Blackstone's India investments have focused on information technology services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing.
Gray said India is getting "closer and closer" to a tipping point where its growth rate can really begin to expand.
Gray cited US-India friction over tariffs and the impact of the US war with Iran on energy costs, saying "There will be bumps".

Timeline

Early phase of Blackstone's India entry (year not stated in the source)Firm operates with a small "skeleton crew" and no defined strategy; makes almost no investments.
Global financial crisis periodMomentum-building in India becomes even harder for Blackstone.
After the early strugglesBlackstone resets strategy, seeking majority or equal-control stakes in IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing.
Present (interview with Bloomberg Television's Wall Street Week)Gray says India is Blackstone's highest-returning PE market and credits the Modi administration's infrastructure work.

Who has a stake

Blackstone Inc. — Its India portfolio in IT services, commercial real estate and manufacturing now delivers its best private equity returns globally.
Jon Gray, President & COO, Blackstone — Public voice of the firm's India thesis, its strategy reset and its outlook on risks like tariffs and energy costs.
Indian government / Prime Minister Narendra Modi's administration — Credited by Gray with a "phenomenal job" on physical, legal and capital-markets infrastructure that eased investment constraints.
Global investors — India's growth trajectory nearing a "tipping point" could create further opportunities, per Gray.
Indian companies seeking capital — Face private equity investors now demanding majority or equal-control positions rather than minority stakes.
US-India economic relationship — Tariff friction and energy-cost effects from the US war with Iran pose near-term bumps despite closer long-term ties.

Why it matters

A top global asset manager publicly ranking India as its best-performing private equity market is a signal to other long-term foreign investors about returns and control conditions in Indian deals. Gray's diagnosis — that infrastructure, including legal and capital-markets infrastructure, was the real constraint — links investment outcomes directly to domestic reform. At the same time, his caution on tariffs and energy costs shows how external shocks can still disrupt inbound capital flows.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

Jon Gray is President and Chief Operating Officer of Blackstone Inc.
Gray said India is Blackstone's highest-returning private equity market globally.
Blackstone's India focus areas: information technology services, commercial real estate, domestic manufacturing.
Blackstone's revised India approach: majority or equal-control positions in businesses.
Gray named three infrastructure gaps that held India back: physical, legal and capital-markets infrastructure.
Risks flagged: US-India tariff friction and energy costs from the US war with Iran.

Mains framing

Blackstone's India experience illustrates how institutional and infrastructural conditions, not just growth rates, determine foreign private capital outcomes. The firm's early failure — a skeleton crew, no defined strategy, deals where "the numbers didn't work", compounded by the global financial crisis — gave way to strong returns only after it shifted to majority or equal-control stakes in IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing, suggesting that governance control and sectoral focus matter as much as macro momentum. Gray's argument that India's binding constraint was physical, legal and capital-markets infrastructure, and that "a lot of things are falling into place", frames the reform agenda: predictable contract enforcement, deeper capital markets and logistics capacity as prerequisites for sustaining higher growth and attracting patient capital. The risks he names — US-India tariff friction and energy costs linked to the US war with Iran — underline India's exposure to trade and energy shocks even as integration with global capitalism deepens. The way forward implied by the source is continuity in infrastructure and institutional reform while managing external trade and energy volatility; specific policy prescriptions beyond this are not stated in the source.

Key terms

Private equity: Investment in company stakes outside public markets; Blackstone's India PE returns are now its highest globally, per Gray.
Blackstone Inc.: Global investment firm whose India bets span IT services, commercial real estate and domestic manufacturing.
Majority or equal-control position: Ownership stake giving the investor control or joint control of a business, the approach Blackstone adopted in India.
Capital-markets infrastructure: The market systems and frameworks supporting fundraising and investment, cited by Gray as a past constraint on India.
Tipping point: Gray's term for the stage at which India can genuinely begin to expand its growth rate.
Global financial crisis: Period Gray says made it harder for Blackstone to build early momentum in India.

Practice questions

Why does Jon Gray identify legal and capital-markets infrastructure, and not just physical infrastructure, as the factor that held India back? Discuss with reference to foreign private capital.
Blackstone shifted from a limited India presence to majority or equal-control stakes. What does this shift reveal about the governance expectations of global private equity in emerging markets?
Examine how external shocks such as tariff friction and energy price volatility can affect long-term foreign investment flows into India.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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