The plunge in PE investments in 2020 follow a record breaking calendar year 2019, which witnessed more than 1,000 PE and venture capital (VC) transactions valued at $45 billion, the highest in the last decade, making India the second largest deal markin Asia-Pacific.
Investment activities witnessed a sharper decline in the second quarter compared with the January-March period, with deals plummeting by almost 60% year-on-year, compared with a 25% decline in the first quarter.
The pandemic has led economic forecasters to project Asia's third-largest economy to contract 5%-5.8% in the current fiscal year that started in April, hurt by low consumer spending and drastically shuttered economic activity.
Deals involving investment of at least $100 million dropped to 30 during January-June, compared with 55 transactions in the comparable year-earlier period. Total value of exits declined by about 45% year-on-year, to $3 billion in the first half of 2020. The number of exits fell 35% to about 75. However, there are green shoots that are emerging. VC investments during this six-month period have remained steady, maintaining the levels recorded - $4.3 billion - in the first half of 2019, according to the data.