Real estate firm Puravankara Projects is in talks to sell stakes in some projects, to fund expansion in a booming market where it sees annual growth rates of 30-40 percent, a top official said on Monday. Earlier in the day the Economic Times reported that the Bangalore-based firm plans to raise up to 20 billion rupees through stake sales in five real estate projects. “We have been cognizant that Puravankara maintains a strong balance sheet. This enables us to embark on our strong growth plans,” Ravi Ramu, director and chief financial officer, told Reuters in an interview. “Until the deal is closed we cannot specifically comment. But private equity is definitely a source we are looking at actively,” he said, adding that stake sale will be only at project-level and there will be no dilution of the parent company's equity. Recent projects lined up by the company involve an investment of 9 billion rupees each in a Kochi residential project and a residential-cum-commercial project in Hyderabad, 5 billion rupees in a Chennai project and 3 billion rupees in Coimbatore. […]

Alternate assets player Kotak Investment Advisors, a subsidiary of Kotak Mahindra Bank, is set to launch an infrastructure fund. C Jayaram, executive director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the fund will invest in core infrastructure verticals such as roads, ports, airports and power. The move will mark Kotak’s entry into a third alternate asset. It currently manages two private equity funds that split $225 million between them and 3 real estate funds with total assets under management of $700 million. “It doesn’t make sense to have an infrastructure fund that is anything less than $1 billion,” said Jayaram, hinting at the magnitude of the fund. Going by this, Kotak will have around $2 billion under management in alternate assets once the infrastructure fund is launched. Jayaram refused to divulge the name of the person hired to independently head the infrastructure fund. “These days, till I see the person physically sitting in front of me, there are no guarantees,” he quipped. […]

Trikona Capital Ltd., the leading fund management firm for institutional investment in Indian real estate and infrastructure, today announced it received Special Economic Zone (SEZ) status approval from the Indian government for a new development in the rapidly growing city of Greater Nodia near the nation’s capital. Trikona Capital invested $56 million in the 76-acre mixed-use Tech Oasis project, a planned development of 10 million square feet of IT, residential and commercial space located in a specially designated area, known as Tech Zone, which promotes the development of the IT services industry. Tech Oasis is situated along the Taj Expressway, which will connect the site to a new proposed international airport and provide direct access to Agra, Faridabad and Gurgaon. Since acquiring the project in March 2007, Trikona Capital has actively managed the investment from developing the project’s master plan to working closely with the Ministry of Commerce and the Government of Uttar Pradesh to receive formal SEZ status. Final project plans will now be submitted for approval. The SEZ approval gives Trikona Capital control of two of the four multi-product SEZs in the National Capital Region of Delhi, a popular location for multinational IT services firms. SEZs were created in India as export hubs to entice investment and spur economic develop outside India’s congested major metros. Both developers and tenants of SEZs receive significant tax benefits for more than a decade. […]

Power trader PTC India Ltd, which plans to diversify into the coal business and supply fuel to companies from which it will buy power, will create a $1 billion fund for the acquisition of overseas coal blocks. The fund will be part of the overseas arm PTC is setting up to acquire these blocks. PTC is also looking to divest 70% stake in this overseas arm. “The offshore firm will be registered in Singapore and we will own a 30% stake in the firm. To start with, PTC India will put Rs300 crore in the fund. The rest of the money will be brought in by the firms that will take the balance 70%,” said a senior PTC official who did not wish to be identified. He declined to name the overseas firms that PTC is in talks with. The company is also looking to divest 70% stake in its overseas arm, which ‘will be registered in Singapore’ After looking for coal supplies from Australia, South Africa and Indonesia in an international market that is becoming increasingly competitive, PTC has decided to focus on Indonesia, prompted by the proximity of the South Asian country to India, which will mean lower freight costs. […]

ICICI Venture, the largest homegrown private equity firm, is launching a separate $3-billion infrastructure fund to invest in road, port and power projects across the country, CEO and MD Renuka Ramnath said. ICICI Venture will raise the money from domestic and institutional investors some time this year. The infrastructure fund will be the firm’s third-biggest fund launch and will help it achieve a target of $10 billion assets under management by 2010. A $2-billion real estate fund and a private equity fund of similar size are also being planned. “We are looking at multiple pools of capital to satisfy the different needs of the economy. Through this, we hope to identify the best investment opportunities for capable entrepreneurs,” Ms Ramnath said. She added that a separate fund for infrastructure was necessary as the profile and needs of investors were different. The infrastructure fund has come to I-Venture after ICICI Bank, the parent, decided not to proceed with its own plans. Credit Suisse First Boston is advising I-Venture on the fund raising plan […]