3i CEO Michael Queen talks infrastructure in India

Queen, who confirmed the news at the AVCJ India Forum 2010 in Mumbai, said the fund will launch next year. The debut is in line with 3i's goal to exponentially boost allocation to India, saying that he "sees our overall investment levels in India probably doubling or tripling over the next three or four years."

The firm's $1.5 billion fund follows the $1.2 billion 3i India Infrastructure Fund that was raised in 2008. That vehicle, which exceeded its $1 billion target by 20% at its launch, has been approximately 80% invested, Queen has publicly indicated. Among that fund's most notable investments was 3i's $182 million investment in GVK Power and Infrastructure Limited, a leading Indian infrastructure developer. That transaction gave 3i a 21.1% minority stake in GVK.

Of the firm's infrastructure focus, Queen tells AVCJ that the sector is poised to grow significantly to parallel the Indian government's enhanced commitment to the area. He notes that the Indian government announced that it plans to double its infrastructure investment in the country to a trillion dollars over a five year period - "and that's going to require an enormous amount of investment. That's going to require an enormous amount of skill to make sure those projects are done well."

"Its an area we have a lot of experience in - we've been investing in infrastructure for a long, long time all over the world - and we see a lot of great entrepreneurs in India to work with to invest along side them in infra projects," he continues.

 

 

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• Topics
• Infrastructure
• South Asia
• 3i Asia Pacific
• Michael Queen