The Hindu Business Line : IFMR Trust fund identifies areas of investment

New Delhi, March 11 IFMR Trust hopes to complete the first round of funding for its $150-million Network Enterprises Fund by June. The quantum of first round of funding would be about $50 million, according to Mr S.G. Anil Kumar, Senior Vice-President of IFMR Trust, a Chennai-based for profit entity.

The Network Enterprise Fund (NEF) would make supply chain investments across 14 identified sectors besides investing in a national rural financial services channel. The sectors identified for supply chain investments include handicraft, processed food, rural tourism, vocational training, healthcare, financial services and education.

“We are looking at predominantly global investors for the Network Enterprises Fund. The fund’s investments will be made in about 24-30 months,” Mr Kumar told Business Line here today.

venture capital fund

He said that the NEF would be registered as a venture capital fund with the Securities and Exchange Board of India even though such registration was not mandatory.

The IFMR Trust’s NEF would incubate Network Enterprises that serve as sector-specific investment funds across identified sectors.

These sectors cover support for traditional livelihood areas (such as processed foods and crafts), new areas of economic activity that link to the growing trends in the overall economy (such as village-based tourism, skills development, waste management and vernacular business process outsourcing), investments in capacity building (such as health, water and education) and investments in infrastructure (such as cost-efficient energy and terminal markets for agricultural produce).

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