Brookfield plans to raise India bet to $100 billion over the next 5 years

New York-based Brookfield Asset Management aims to quadruple India exposure to $100 billion as part of its plan to double global AUM to $2 trillion in five years

Brookfield Asset Management plans to ramp up its investments in India to $100 billion over the next five years, from $30.6 billion currently, as part of a broader strategy to double its global assets under management (AUM), President Connor Teskey said on Thursday. 

The New York-based alternative asset major, which manages more than $1 trillion across renewables, infrastructure, private equity, real estate, and credit, expects its global AUM to reach $2 trillion within the same timeframe. 

“We expect our global business to more than double over the next five years,” said Teskey, 38, who is widely expected to become Brookfield’s next global chief executive officer. 

“If that is the case, then in high-growth regions like India, where we see powerful tailwinds and enormous opportunity, it’s entirely reasonable to expect our exposure to triple or even quadruple. I fully expect our Indian platform to be a $100 billion business in the near term,” Teskey said at a media interaction. 

Brookfield’s bullish outlook highlights its long-term confidence in India’s role in the global real asset economy. 

 

Over the past 15 years, the firm has emerged as one of India’s largest foreign investors, deploying $12 billion each in infrastructure and real estate, $3 billion in renewable power (where it owns 43 gigawatt of assets), and $3.6 billion via its private equity and special investments division. 

The company’s Indian portfolio includes marquee assets such as the country’s longest privately operated cross-country gas pipeline — spanning 1,480 km from the Krishna-Godavari Basin to western India — acquired from the billionaire Mukesh Ambani family. It also controls the world’s second-largest telecom tower platform, with around 257,000 towers across India, following its acquisition of a majority stake in Reliance Jio’s tower business.   

Brookfield has partnered Digital Realty Trust and Reliance to build hyperscale data centres in India, with a planned capacity of 160 megawatts across hubs in Chennai and Mumbai — tapping into the country’s surging demand for digital infrastructure. 

“Our focus globally is aligned with three long-term structural trends — decarbonisation, digitalisation, and deglobalisation,” Teskey said. “We believe we are still in the early innings of a multi-decade growth cycle across each of these dynamics.”

Despite global geopolitical uncertainties, including trade tensions and past US tariffs, Teskey said Brookfield remained relatively insulated due to its diversified portfolio across sectors and geographies. 

Brookfield’s strategy, according to him, centres on deploying large-scale capital alongside operational expertise in sectors where these three themes converge, especially in markets like India, where demand far outpaces public or government funding capabilities. 

On deglobalisation, Teskey noted a shift in corporate and government mindsets — from pure efficiency to resilience. “After a series of global supply shocks, including the pandemic and the Suez Canal blockage, there is a growing willingness to sacrifice a bit of efficiency for greater resilience,” he said. “This is driving themes like onshoring and nearshoring, particularly in strategic sectors — and India stands out as a major global beneficiary.” 

Teskey said whether it was large corporations or governments, the pendulum had swung too far from pure efficiency to resilience. “Let me give an example: Companies that once relied on a single supplier or a single supply route are now seeking to diversify and build redundancy. That shift requires significant capital expenditure, whether it is to establish new manufacturing facilities or upgrade and expand transportation networks. These are investments that often go beyond what corporations can support from their balance sheets — and, frankly, beyond what governments alone can fund,” he said. 

India is a big beneficiary of the shift in the global supply chain, especially from China, Teskey said. “At Brookfield, we focus on high-quality real assets. We typically invest in infrastructure that supports the movement or processing of goods — without necessarily investing in the goods themselves.” 

In the digital sector, Brookfield is a major investor in data centres, telecom towers, and fibre networks. In energy and commodities, the firm invests in midstream infrastructure, utilities, and transmission lines. 

“We expect this type of infrastructure to continue expanding rapidly in India, driven by strong domestic demand and India’s increasing integration into global trade. I would also be remiss not to mention the significant growth happening in India’s power sector, particularly in clean energy,” he said. 

Teskey said Brookfield was fortunate to have one of the leading renewable power platforms globally. “The market tailwinds in India, including robust supply-chain development, supportive government policies, and rising demand for electricity, especially clean electricity, make this a compelling growth opportunity,” he said, adding the firm was looking to invest in airports in India if that was a good investment opportunity. 

“When we held a similar session just over two years ago in India, we had a relatively modest renewable power presence in the country — about 3-4 Gw. At the time, we were confident in our ability to triple or even quadruple that capacity in the near term. That ambition might have sounded bold, but here we are, just a couple of years later, with 40 Gw in the country,” Teskey said. 

Status check

  Brookfield’s current $30.6 bn investments in India include: (Major assets, investments in India in brackets)

 

$12 bn: Infrastructure 

(Pipeline Infrastructure, Altius, Digital Connexion 

  $12 bn: Real estate 

(Brookfield India Real Estate Trust, The Leela)

  $3.6 bn: Private equity 

(Indostar Capital, Everise)

  $3 bn: Renewable power and transition 

(Evren, Avaada, CleanMax, Leap Green Energy, UPL)