Global networking major Cisco is aggressively stepping up its next phase of investments in India, further to its $100 million investment in India so far. The company is scouting the region for equity investments in media, broadband and real estate, Cisco Ventures managing director Joydeep Bose said. Of the $200-million investments in India, Cisco has already invested nearly $ 100 million and the company hopes to exhaust the next $100 million in another 18 months. Immediate on the company’s plans, is forming investment-backed alliances in India. The company already has such an alliance with Satyam in the healthcare sector and is in talk with two more companies in India aimed towards the real estate and collaborative networking space in India. “We hope to close at one such equity-backed alliance deal by the end of December this year,” Mr Bose said. Cisco would seek out investment opportunities in its areas of focus, by asking partner companies to spin off such target operations into a subsidiary, in which it could take a stake of up to 18%.   more »

3i Group Plc, a London-based global private equity firm, announced that it has raised $1.2 billion for the India Infrastructure Fund that will enable it to finance projects in power, ports and other core sectors with a total value of up to 5 billion dollars. Earlier, 3i Group had announced to invest USD one billion in India's infrastructure sector, and had entered into a strategic partnership with the state-owned India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) last year. The raised funds are 20 per cent higher than the target, said a company statement.   more »