Infrastructure finance company Srei will soon be raising a $500 million venture capital fund from global investors, to be deployed in domestic projects, a top company official has said.

“We will be embarking on roadshows to raise up to $500 million from across the world in the next two months,” Srei chairman and managing director Mr Hemant Kanoria told PTI.

Srei expects to finish the fund-raising by mid-2012 and will be targeting high networth individuals, pension funds, endowment funds and fund of funds to raise the money, Mr Kanoria said.

In spite of the negative buzz in the country following a scams and lack of positive policy measures as well as good governance, Mr Kanoria sounded confident of achieving the targeted amount citing the benefits of the infra sector and the company’s deep-rooted presence in it since 1989. “Overall I feel India is a good destination. We have more positives here than the negatives,” he added.

The money will be raised by the subsidiary Srei Venture Capital, which already has $200 million invested through four funds at present.

The money raised will be used to pick up equity stake in the longer-gestation infra projects, Mr Kanoria said, stressing that it will only invest in those projects which have already started.

The listed parent Srei Infrastructure Finance had posted a 17 percent growth in net income for the quarter ended June 30 at Rs 55 crore. The company is targeting an over 40 percent jump in disbursements for the fiscal at Rs 22,000 crore despite demand slowdown, Mr Kanoria said.

He admitted that net interest margin, which stood at 3.5 percent for the June quarter, will be under pressure for the remaining part of the fiscal, especially considering the ongoing rate tightening by the Reserve Bank.

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