Goldman Could Invest $2 B More In India

Mumbai: Goldman Sachs, which has invested more than $1 billion in the Indian market, is ready to double or triple its exposure to the country, its chairman and chief executive said in a newspaper interview published on Monday.

Goldman last year decided to end a 10-year old joint venture with India's Kotak Mahindra and launch its own operation.

"When we came here a year ago we said we'd try to invest $1 billion over the next two years. We have invested more than a $1 billion in India already," Goldman Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein told the Economic Times.

"If we saw opportunities to invest a couple more billion dollars in next year we will do that. It would depend on what the opportunities are, but we would certainly be happy to double or triple our exposure to India."

He said that during the last quarter more than half of the company's revenue came from outside the United States and the Asian business was the fastest growing part of the firm.

"Our strategy in countries like India and China is central to our future growth for the obvious reason that we want our client franchise to grow alongside these economies."

Blankfein said emerging economies would continue to attract more capital inflows and that the reasons were not only the weakening dollar, but also companies from the region, evolving as global players, were attracting investors.

"Just think about here in India Reliance, Tata, Infosys to name just a few," he said.

"These companies are growing not only within their home countries, but globally as well. This has opened the eyes of investors everywhere."