SINGAPORE - Temasek Holdings, the Singapore government's investment company, is in talks to acquire a stake of about 18 per cent for nearly 7 billion rupees (S$150 million) in Global Health Pvt. Ltd, which owns, manages and operates Medanta hospital outside Delhi, India's Economic Times said on Monday (Jan 19).

Quoting unidentified sources, the newspaper said Temasek is in advanced discussions with Punj Lloyd Ltd, one of the founding promoters of Medanta along with cardiac surgeon Naresh Trehan and Sunil Sachdeva. Punj Lloyd is a Delhi-based diversified engineering and project management company run by Atul Punj.

The paper said the deal is expected to be announced early this week.

It quoted Temasek's head of communication Stephen Forshaw as saying the company "does not comment on market speculation and rumours."

Last year, Temasek invested about $30 million in Bangalore-based cancer care provider HealthCare Global Enterprises.