India’s SREI targets $1b infrastructure fund

Hemant Kanoria, chairman and managing director of the Indian firm, told Reuters that the first tranche would be raised over the next six months from foreign investors, with a target first close of $500 million. SREI has already deployed $200 million in domestic infrastructure projects through two private equity funds raised from Indian investors.

Government estimates put India's infrastructure investment requirement at $1 trillion for the five years beginning April 2012. Losses from poor infrastructure are believed to amount to one to two percentage points of GDP.

Private equity investment in infrastructure in India reached $4 billion last year, up four-fold from 2006, according to Bain & Company. Activity is tipped to grow 25-50% annually over the next three years.

Nomura Holdings is reportedly planning to launch a $500 million India-focused infrastructure fund in September. Late last year, 3i Group CEO Michael Queen confirmed the formation of the firm's second Indian infrastructure fund, said to be worth $1.5 billion. The previous fund, which attracted $1.2 billion, was raised in 2008.

In late June, the Indian government finalized the broad structure for an $11 billion infrastructure debt fund. The fund's responsibilities would include plowing much needed capital into the power sector by supporting the construction of power-generation facilities as well as helping existing energy companies boost capacity.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Infrastructure
• Fundraising
• Nomura Principal Finance
• 3i Asia Pacific