Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest U.S. securities firm, will set up a private equity unit in India from May 1, the company said in an e-mailed statement today. The New York-based company also said it has hired Aluri Srinivasa Rao from ICICI Venture, a unit of ICICI Bank Ltd. and India's largest private equity fund, as a managing director. Rao, 43, will run the group's private equity investments in India, the statement said. ``We are excited to be entering the India market,'' Chin Chou, managing director and chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia, said in the statement. This year presents one of the most attractive times to be investing capital in India, he said. Morgan Stanley's private equity unit will invest in India through its third fund dedicated to Asia, which manages $1.5 billion, the company said. (Bloomberg)   more »

Indian infrastructure specialist IDFC Private Equity is raising a new $700 million fund to buy stakes in firms expected to thrive as the country modernises its rag-tag power and transport networks. IDFC's managing director for investment, Satish Mandhana, told Reuters the fund would close in the next two to three weeks, with around 85 percent of the money coming from abroad. Foreign investors are increasingly drawn to Indian infrastructure, as the government estimates about $500 billion will be needed to build new roads, ports, airports and power plants by 2012 to keep pace with a fast-growing economy. Around 30 percent of that spending is expected to come from the private sector, with the rest split between the central and state governments.   more »