Festive demand, tech push lift India's PE-VC deal value to $26 bn in 2025

Private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments in India have touched a three-year high of $26 billion, underscoring renewed global confidence in the country's economic trajectory.

 

Strong agricultural output, robust monsoon, and a revival in consumer demand during the festival season have created a fertile environment for capital deployment across sectors, according to an Equirus report.

 

The momentum marks a significant turnaround for India’s investment landscape.

 

During the first nine months of 2025, PE and VC investments have already exceeded the aggregate investment amount recorded in the whole of 2023 and 2024, respectively.

 

The number of deals has also surged, with 1,363 transactions recorded in January–September 2025 compared to 1,170 deals in all of 2024.

 

 

It is a clear reflection of India’s expanding deal pipeline and investor enthusiasm.

 

“The increased deal value in 2025 is because the proportion of smaller deals of less than $10 million has dropped to 40 per cent of the total versus 47 per cent in 2024. The percentage of mid-sized deals in the range of $10–25 million have risen from 21 per cent in 2024 to 31 per cent in 2025 till date,” said Bhavesh Shah, managing director (MD) and head – investment banking, Equirus Capital.

 

This change in deal composition has lifted the average deal value to $36.6 million in 2025, compared with $34.4 million in 2024 — signalling larger and more strategic investments by PE and VC players.

 

IT and consumer staples lead sectoral upswing

 

India’s ongoing digital transformation has positioned information technology (IT) and consumer staples as standout sectors for investors. The IT sector’s share in total PE-VC deal value rose from 23 per cent in 2024 to 35 per cent in 2025. It was driven by strong demand for digital infrastructure, software as a service (SaaS) exports, and artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled business solutions.

 

At the same time, consumer staples gained traction, accounting for 13 per cent of total deal value in 2025, up from just 4 per cent in 2024.

 

This came as investors bet on India’s consumption growth, rural recovery, and festival spending cycle.

 

“On the other hand, sectors such as financials and healthcare saw their share in total investments in 2025 dip over the previous year. The share of financials in overall PE and VC investments fell from 18 per cent in 2024 to 11 per cent in 2025. For healthcare, it fell from 19 per cent to 7 per cent,” added Shah.

 

Exit activity moderates but market depth remains strong

 

While investment inflows have accelerated, exit activity has softened. The value of exits in 2025 dropped to a four-year low of $11 billion, down from $20 billion in 2024, $17 billion in 2023, and $20 billion in 2022.

 

However, the dominance of block deals and secondary market sales — accounting for 52–67 per cent of all exits between 2023 and 2025 — demonstrates the continued depth and liquidity of the Indian capital markets.

 

“The depth of India’s robust and liquid stock markets allows investors multiple exit routes — via initial public offerings (IPOs), block deals, strategic sales and fund-to-fund transactions. This flexibility enables better price discovery and reflects the strength of India’s capital markets in supporting entrepreneurial ambition and the vision of a Viksit Bharat,” said Ajay Garg, MD, Equirus group.

 

In 2025, financials (28 per cent), healthcare (22 per cent), and consumer discretionary (18 per cent) accounted for the majority of exits, reinforcing investor focus on scalable, high-growth sectors.

 

“India is the cynosure of the global PE/VC community, having supported 13,000 deals and over $275 billion in total deal value in the past decade,” added Garg.