India must boost capital markets so Indians grow with economy: Larry Fink, chief executive, BlackRock

India needs to urgently focus on building deeper capital markets instead of relying on foreign inflows, Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, told Sruthijith KK in an interview in Mumbai. That will allow Indians to meaningfully participate in the country's economic growth, which has the potential to expand at 6-10% over the next decade. India is at the "cutting edge of financial infrastructure" from digital payments to the future tokenisation of financial assets, said Fink, 73, who cofounded BlackRock-the world's largest asset manager- in 1988. Its assets under management hit a record $14 trillion at the end of 2025. Fink dismissed concerns of an AI bubble, arguing that demand for compute far exceeds supply. The bigger risk is underinvestment, particularly in the US, at a time when China is rapidly advancing. Edited excerpts.

The US and India just managed a diplomatic and trade breakthrough. Do you think this marks the end of a difficult phase in the relationship?

I'm really not focused on any one trade agreement, but I do believe over time, our two countries have to be closer. That doesn't mean we don't have volatility in that relationship, like every other relationship, but over a long horizon, I think the two countries need to find a pathway to which we can be growing together. We have a lot of similarities, we have a lot of differences.