Investment in infrastructure was the highest in August at US$803 million by the private equity and venture capital followed by real estate at US$764 million, according to the report release by Indian Private Equity & Venture Capital Association and consulting firm EY.
Also, August saw the highest number of large deals with 16 deals worth US$3.3 billion compared to 6 large deals worth US$3.3 billion in August 2018. Five out of the 16 largest deals in the month were in infrastructure and real estate sectors, aggregating to US$1.6 billion.
Huge investment in these two sectors has led to an overall investment activity in India by venture capital funds at an all-time high at $36.7 billion. The report said that investments in infrastructure and real estate sectors accounted for 35% of the total investments in August 2019. The financial services sector was another top interest of VC funds with an investment worth US$734 million in the last month.
Similarly, for private equity funds, the largest deal in the month was of GIC, who invested US$631 million in IRB Infrastructure and Developers road platform. Another large deal that stole the limelight was Blackstone’s buyout of Coffee Day’s Global Village Tech Park for US$400 million.
Investments in infrastructure segment are expected to remain strong going ahead given the government, as well as the private sector, is looking to monetize assets, said Vivek Soni, Partner and National Leader Private Equity Services at EY.
“Large investments in the infrastructure sector, which has accounted for 35% of all PE/VC investments in India in 2019, have added real momentum to the Indian PE/VC investment activity. The infrastructure theme has witnessed interest from the global buyout, pension, and sovereign funds and this trend is expected to remain strong in the near future,” said Vivek.