'India is where I want to invest': BlackRock CEO Larry Fink says next 20-25 years are India's era

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink on Wednesday called the next two decades "the era of India", saying the country is on track for sustained high growth and is the market he is most keen to back with long-term capital.

Speaking at a fireside chat with billionaire Mukesh Ambani on 'Investing For a New Era', Fink said India's growth story is not about short cycles, but about staying invested through a long runway.

"In the era for India, our focus is to explain people what it means to be the 'Era of India'. When you think about the growth of India...It's not a quarter, it's not a day or week, it's not a year, it's a long horizon. And you can say maybe this is the era for India and over the next 20-25 years," he said.

Fink said India has built a strong domestic base, and its economic momentum will continue for years. "I do believe the combination of importation of capital from foreign investors who believe in the era of India, but the fundamental foundation of any country is having the domestic economy being built on the back of retirement savings," he said.

The American billionaire businessman said India over the next 10-plus years is going to grow from 8-10 per cent. "India has over the next 10 plus years going to grow anywhere from 8 to 12%, probably hovering around 8 to 10, and that's a place where I would have personally invested and what we need to do is compelling more Indians to invest," he said.

Pointing to structural changes, the BlackRock CEO praised the Modi government and said digitised rupee has transformed commerce in the country. "Across the board, I am very worried about other countries, even the United States is falling behind. We need to be digitizing. We need to be thinking about how this all plays out. This is part of the democratization of India. So, now India is a leader in this," he added.

Fink underlined the need to deepen household participation in markets, arguing that wider investing will help Indians grow along with the broader economy. He said India needs more people to invest in the capital markets, and urged a mindset shift toward long-horizon investing.

"We need to be compelling people to think about the horizon of investing over a long period of time, to grow with great companies of India, to be a part of that, and to participate in that," he said.