New Delhi

India’s private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) fundraises more than doubled to $21.2 billion across 48 funds in the first half (H1) of 2026, reflecting strong investor confidence despite subdued deal activity, according to an EY-IVCA report released on Friday.

Fundraising rose from $10.1 billion in H1 2025 and $13 billion in the second half of 2025. The biggest fundraise was Bain Capital’s Asia Fund VI, which raised $10.5 billion, well above its original target of $7 billion.

However, PE/VC investment activity remained subdued. Total investments stood at $20.5 billion, down 36 per cent from $31.8 billion in H1 2025 and 29 per cent from $29 billion in H2 2025. The number of deals fell 18 per cent year-on-year to 604 from 734. Vivek Soni, Partner and National Leader, Private Equity Services at EY, said investor sentiment remained cautious amid geopolitical tensions, elevated crude oil prices, rupee depreciation and valuation gaps between buyers and sellers. Q2 2026 was the slowest quarter for PE/VC investments in six years, he said. Real estate attracted the highest investment at $4.1 billion, followed by technology at $3.1 billion and financial services at $3 billion. Meanwhile, investments and commitments in India’s data centre and allied sectors reached $33.3 billion in H1, driven by demand for cloud infrastructure, AI and digital services.