Quantum launches $500m Indian infrastructure fund

Quantum Equity Advisors, an infrastructure investor, will start fundraising for Q India Fund in a few days. The firm is targeting a fund size of $500 million (€318.1 million).

Satish Mehta, managing director and chief executive at Quantum Equity Advisors, told PEO the firm hopes to close the fund within six to eight months. Quantum is mainly targeting limited partners from North America and Europe, but also wants investors from the Asia-Pacific and from India at a later stage, he said.

The fund’s focus is on infrastructure projects and companies in sectors such as logistics, ports, airports, health, power and tourism.

Quantum Equity Advisors is a partnership between Nasser Munjee, Satish Mehta and Ajit Dayal. While Dayal is a director at Quantum Equity Advisors, the fund’s investment team is led by Munjee and Mehta.

Munjee helped create Infrastructure Development and Finance Corporation (IDFC), one of India’s biggest infrastructure funding bodies, and was its managing director until 2005. Mehta was one of the people behind the establishment of Credit Information Bureau (India) and its founding managing director.

Private investments in Indian infrastructure are increasing as the country seeks to finance the development of its infrastructure. With its maiden fund, Quantum joins a host of other private equity firms which have made their foray into Indian infrastructure, including The Blackstone Group, 3i, JP Morgan, IDFC Private Equity, Axis Private Equity, and ICICI Venture.