Chinese firms invested $2.3 billion in 3 months in India

That is substantially more than the $1.35 billion it invested in 16 years to March 2016

Chinese firms have invested more than $2.3 billion in four Indian companies during the past three months, as compared to $1.35 billion, which came into India by way of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China between April 2000 and March 2016.

According to VCCircle, the investment reported in the last three months include ad tech start-up Media.net, drug-maker Gland Pharma and electrical equipment maker Diamond Power Infrastructure Ltd.

Media.net, was one of the largest deals in the advertising technology sector, in which a Chinese consortium led by Beijing Miteno Communication Technology bought out the startup floated by brothers Divyank and Bhavin Turakhia for $900 million.

 

The report said, the trend of Chinese series investments into Indian companies started in 2015, when e-commerce giant Alibaba made a investments in Indian unicorns such as Snapdeal and Paytm.

Alibaba, which invested $680 million in Paytm last year, now, owns about 40 per ecent in the online payments company along with its financial arm Ant Financial Services Group. In Snapdeal, Alibaba, Japan's Softbank and Taiwanese Foxconn have invested $500 million over a few rounds, according to VCCircle.

Around the same time, Chinese ride-hailing company Didi Chuxing had made a strategic investment in cab aggregator Ola Cabs.

In July 2016, leading Chinese pharma major Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceuticals acquired Indian injectables manufacturer Gland Pharma for $1.27 billion, making it the largest ever takeover by a Chinese company in India.

Then, in a funding round announced earlier this month, messaging app Hike secured $175 million investment from WeChat's parent and one of China's largest internet companies Tencent, Foxconn and other investors.

The other notable Chinese investments in recent months include Tidfore Heavy Equipment's infusion of $150 million into steelmaker Uttam Galva Metallics and Insurance giant AIA Group's $307 million investment into its life insurance joint-venture with Tata Sons, Tata AIA Life.