Mumbai: Private equity and venture capital funds invested $ 77 billion in Indian companies in 2021, a jump of 62 percent over the previous year, a report said on Tuesday.

Going by a number of deals there was a 37 percent growth to 1.266 transactions. the report by industry lobby IVCA and consultancy Ey said.

The year saw a massive glut of liquidity world coming out cross the of the pan of demic which led to higher investments vestments in many assets and a surge in valuations.

The consultancy firm's partner Vivek Soni said there was a pick-up in investments from early on itself, which surged in the second half of the year gone by.

Investments in start-ups were a defining feature of 2021, with $ 28,8 billion in funding which accounted for 37 percent of the overall PEVC investments, the report said.

It added that the year also saw an addition of 44 unicorns or start-ups valued at over $1 billion, making In dia the third-largest home for such companies.

One of the biggest reasons for the strong performance of PEVC investments was the sharp increase in pure-play PEVC investments or investments invested in sectors excluding real estate and infrastructure which jumped 79 percent to $67 billion in 2021, it said. After recording a significant decline amid the pandemic in 2020, buyouts recorded a strong rebound and were the second-largest deal type with $22 billion recorded across 63 deals, which is the highest ever by the quantum value.

Private investment in public equity (PIPE) deals increased 46 percent to $4.5 billion across 77 deal 77 deals, while credit investments stayed at $2.6 billion, it said.

In 2021, exits recorded an all-time high of $ 43.2 billion, more than 7 times the value recorded in 2020 and 60 percent higher than the previous high of $27 billion recorded in 2018, it said.

However, when it comes to fund-raisings for future investments, there was a 6 percent decline to $7.7 billion in 2021, the report said.

Source- PTI