Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank has chosen to back a local team rather than build its own to invest in Indian energy and manufacturing. It has bought into One Planet Partners, an asset management firm founded in Mumbai in 2024, and signed a strategic partnership with it.
The bank is also putting money to work through the firm. It has agreed to set up a Separately Managed Account, a dedicated pool of its own capital that One Planet Partners will invest. The bank said the move will expand its investments in growth companies and strengthen its role in the energy and manufacturing sectors.
The bank has not said how much it has invested, how large a stake it holds or how big the account will be.
One Planet Partners takes equity stakes in commercially successful, high-growth Indian companies that enable and benefit from the energy transition and energy security, along with Make in India opportunities. Those are the sectors the bank wants more of.
The bank is effectively backing the people. Mukund Rajan and Bobby Pauly both played central roles within the Tata Group and helped launch its private equity business. Mrinalini Mirchandani was the first female Senior Partner at McKinsey India and has long served the private equity industry. Sheetal Thakkar has investment experience from Blackstone and the Tata Group.
The bank said it sees the energy transition in India as a critical challenge tied to climate change and energy security. It expects favourable government policy to create significant investment and financing opportunities and long-term market growth. The deal sits within its wider push into real assets, which covers energy, real estate, shipping and aircraft.
The Narrative Republic: Partners in India’s Growth
Our analysis
A large Japanese bank is betting that the fastest way into Indian deal flow is through a team that already knows the companies. Building that network from scratch would take years. Buying into one takes a signature.
The dedicated account matters more than the stake. A stake gives the bank a share of the firm’s fees. The account puts the bank’s own capital directly into Indian companies. For a firm only two years old, that is a long-term backer behind every deal it makes.
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