The Indian Venture and Alternate Capital Association (IVCA), the apex industry body promoting the alternate capital industry in India, hosted the Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) & Exits Forum 2025 in New Delhi today. Supported by 360 ONE as Title Partner, Cooley as Legal Partner, Peak XV Partners as Gold Partner, and ably backed by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), MGB Advisors, and Uniqus Consultech, the Forum gathered leading domestic allocators, policymakers, fund managers, and industry participants to discuss strategies for expanding homegrown pools of capital. 

Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairperson, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), was at the report launch, and he also joined a fireside chat on “Enabling Patient Capital: The Pension Fund Perspective on India’s Growth Story”. His conversation with Gopal Srinivasan, Chairman & MD TVS Capital Funds, focused on building sustainable, long-term investment channels through pension reforms, governance frameworks, and aligning risk–return structures in the alternative investment fund (AIF) space, bringing perspectives that are critical for unlocking the full potential of domestic institutional capital.

Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairperson, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), added “India’s next phase of capital formation must be built on strong domestic pools of patient capital. Pension assets, by design, are long term and stable, and our effort at PFRDA is to create a framework that allows these funds to participate meaningfully in India’s private market growth. Over the last few years, we have worked to classify alternate assets more clearly, strengthen governance structures, and build a centralised and transparent NPS fund of funds platform that can select AIFs with rigour and credibility. This gives every pension fund, large or small, the confidence to deploy capital without compromising on prudence.

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We fully recognise that risk capital comes with cycles but a well diversified AIF portfolio, backed by robust oversight and long term horizons, can still deliver outcomes that are beneficial for subscribers. India cannot rely only on seven to ten year fund structures. We must embrace longer tenor and perpetual vehicles that match the nature of retirement savings. If India is to unlock the full power of domestic institutional investors, we must align incentives, deepen trust through process excellence, and enable wider participation from pension, insurance, and retirement assets. The opportunity is immense, and with the right guardrails, domestic capital can become a powerful anchor for India’s long term growth story.”

The IVCA DII & Exits Forum comes at a pivotal time for India’s investment ecosystem. The recent report Unlocking Domestic Capital: Key to India’s AIF Growth, 2025 by IVCA-360 ONE-CRISIL - highlights that commitments to AIFs have risen sharply—from Rs 0.84 lakh crore in 2017 to Rs 13.49 lakh crore in 2025—reflecting both the sector’s depth and the maturation of India’s regulatory framework. Yet, domestic institutional participation remains well below global benchmarks, emphasising the need for deeper engagement, enabling regulations, and robust exit pathways. Ramann’s insights shed light on how pension funds can act as anchors of patient capital, strengthening India’s long-term growth story.

As India’s private-market ecosystem evolves, the role of DIIs, particularly pension funds, will be crucial in providing patient, long-term capital. Shri Ramann’s session at the IVCA DII & Exits Forum provided actionable insights on governance and regulatory enablers that can strengthen these investment channels, paving the way for robust exit pathways and a more resilient capital ecosystem in India.