Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., the former partner of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in India, plans to raise about $1.2 billion for two funds to invest in the world's second- fastest-growing major economy. Kotak will seek $1 billion to invest in infrastructure and will add $200 million from overseas investors to a third private equity fund that closed last month, Nitin Deshmukh, chief executive officer at Kotak Investment Advisors Ltd., said in an interview in Mumbai. 3i Group Plc, Deutsche Bank AG and Morgan Stanley are increasing alternative investments in India, where private equity firms raised seven times more than China in the first quarter. Kotak plans to have $2.5 billion in assets by the end of March by adding to holdings including Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd. and the National Stock Exchange Ltd. Kotak has made investments through two private equity funds, the India Growth Fund, started in 2005 with $160 million of assets, and the Kotak India Venture Fund I, started last year, that manages $65 million. […]

There may be a lull in the Indian real estate market, but dollars continue to pour in. Hongkong based Arch Capital Management will invest USD 100 million in Indian realty over the next two years. India's property market continues to attract foreign investors. Ayala Corporation and it's affiliate-Arch Capital Management-is expected to invest USD 100 million in property in India in the next two years. Ayala is one of the largest real estate brands in Phillippines. Currently, this private equity fund is evaluating property in Chennai, Hyderabad, the National Capital Region, Mumbai, Pune and Bangalore. Sources say it will subsequently consider smaller cities, as there is more room for development. Sources also say residential projects are top on Arch Capital Management's priority list as it is easier to exit them. But the fund is open to investing in retail and IT projects. […]

DLF Ltd, India’s largest real estate developer by market value, said an affiliated firm DLF Assets Ltd received $450 million (Rs1,831.5 crore) worth of funding from a London-based investment firm, Symphony Capital, so it could partly pay up the money it owed DLF, as a proposed overseas listing to raise money seems to have been delayed. While DLF Assets has paid up the bulk of the money it owes DLF for the year gone by, it still owes Rs1,900 crore, said Saurabh Chawla, senior vice-president for finance at DLF. A large portion of DLF’s properties, all commercial, were sold to DLF Assets last year, just before DLF went public. DLF Assets needs to urgently get a proposed listing underway as a real estate investment trust (Reit) in Singapore, to pay DLF. However, the listing has been delayed after a global market slowdown turned new share offers less attractive and investors started fleeing real estate companies because the crisis was linked to falling home values and irrecoverable home loans in the US, the largest economy. […]

Sandalwood Partners, an early stage VC firm has invested in luxury mobile phone company with an initial capital of $2 million. It plans to invest around $10 million over a period of time. Mr Kondamoori said that luxury mobile phone market in India may see a slow uptake and firm plans to sell around 10,000 units in the first year of operation. Globally, there are a few luxury mobile phone brands, some which are part of the handset manufacturers, others as standalone entities. Nokia’s luxury division, Vertu, has handsets in the price range of $310,000, which are available in very limited pieces of 8-10. Others like SonyEricsson, Motorola have handsets priced at $300,000 and $51,800, respectively. Besides, there are other models which are priced in the range of $1,900 to $2,700. India is also the home to around 150 million mobile users and is one of the fastest growing market globally. It is estimated that this market will cross 500-million users by 2010-11. […]

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. […]