RREEF Alternative Investments, the $90 billion property arm of Deutsche Bank, has launched a new operation in India. The new venture, named RREEF India Advisors Private Limited, will be run locally by country head Kishore Gotety. There will be a team of six to provide real estate and infrastructure advice to RREEF's funds. At the same time, RREEF has announced that it will buy a 60% stake in a mixed-use property development in Hyderabad, where it will partner with NCC Urban. The project is located close to the international airport. It will take five years and will consist of commercial, residential and hotel space. This will complement its first Indian property venture, a $70 million stake in developer Golden Gate Properties.   more »

The private equity arm of Indian private sector Axis Bank said on Tuesday its infrastructure fund had raised 6 billion rupees ($148 million). Axis Private Equity said it had already committed more than half of the fund, and it would focus on companies that build transport, irrigation, energy networks and hotel developers. "The fund was raised within five to six months from its launch in turbulent market conditions," the company said in a statement, adding it aimed to eventually raise up to $600 million. The federal government has estimated India will need about $500 billion between 2007 and 2012 to modernise and expand the country's creaky power and transport networks.   more »

Australia investment bank manager Babcock & Brown hopes to invest in $2 billion of Indian property and infrastructure assets within three years and has poached nine investment bankers from ABN AMRO for the task. Jaginder Singh Pasricha, executive director for business development in India, told Reuters the infrastructure specialists he pinched from the Dutch bank had started their fund on Monday. Pasricha has spent the last year formulating a strategy for spending up to 40 per cent of a $1 billion Asia infrastructure fund. This week he put together a new team in one fell swoop.   more »