‘Want to double our funds in...’: Singaporean business leaders announce investments post PM Modi visit

Top business leaders and CEOs from various sectors in Singapore announced further investments in India on Thursday, following a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where he presented India’s ongoing reforms aimed at fostering investment and innovation. 

What did the leaders say?

CapitaLand Investment's Group CEO, Lee Chee Koon, highlighted the company's accelerated growth in India since PM Modi took office. 

“In the last seven years, our growth in India has tripled because of huge prospects in India, a stable government, steady reforms and a pro-business attitude,” Lee told ANI. He added that CapitaLand aims to more than double its funds under management in India in the coming years.

The digital infrastructure sector also showed keen interest in the Indian market. Bruno Lopez, CEO of ST Telemedia Global Data, announced plans to invest over ₹26,000 crore in India over the next five years. Lopez praised India's digitalisation efforts, stating, “The commitment to digitalisation across India is an example to follow for a lot of places,” as quoted by ANI.

In the renewable energy sector, Kim Yin Wong, CEO of Sembcorp Industries Ltd, expressed excitement about recent policy changes. “PM Modi and his ministries over the last few years implemented important policies that enabled the viability and credibility of the solar electricity corporation of India,” Wong said, indicating interest in collaborating with Indian companies NTPC and NHPC.

Gautam Banerjee, Senior Managing Director and Chairman of Blackstone Singapore, reflected on the firm's success in India. “What we have done in the last 10 years has been much more than we could achieve earlier,” Banerjee remarked, crediting PM Modi's “increased vigour and focus” for creating numerous opportunities.

The Singapore Business Federation's CEO, Kok Ping Soon, noted PM Modi's pro-business attitude and highlighted potential areas for collaboration, particularly in skill development.

Sean Chiao, Group CEO of Surbana Jurong, acknowledged India's rise as a major global player under PM Modi's leadership and suggested further market liberalisation to encourage more collaboration with Singaporean companies.

In response to the enthusiastic reception, PM Modi shared on microblogging platform X, “Interacted with top business leaders and CEOs in Singapore. We talked about ways to deepen economic linkages. I highlighted the reforms underway in India, which will encourage investment and innovation.”

The meeting also saw the announcement of an Invest India Office in Singapore aimed at facilitating Singaporean investments across various sectors in India. 

Four Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) were exchanged in areas including the semiconductor ecosystem, digital technologies, skill development, and healthcare.

This high-level engagement marked a significant step in Indo-Singaporean relations, with both countries elevating their partnership to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.