Indian VCs, PEs may invest $8.5 bn in next 5 yrs: Study

Indian venture capitalists and private equities are expected to invest over $8.5 billion (about Rs 42,000 crore) in the next five years in sectors like biotechnology, life sciences, film production and education, an Assocham-Deloitte study today said.     

As regulatory regime in these sectors are being gradually streamlined, Indian venture capitalists (VCs) and private equities (PEs) will have an added incentive to invest in these upcoming sectors, the study said.     

India has large opportunities in biotechnology and life sciences on lines of retail and real estate. The life sciences sector in India has been attracting specialists venture capitalists from global and local funds, it said.     

"The US-based Life Sciences Fund has recently invested about $20 million in a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical company. It is anticipated that the biotechnology and life sciences will alone attract about $1.5 billion investments from VCs and PEs by 2012," it said.     

Logistics is another area in which VCs are expected to invest about USD 2 billion in India’s maritime infrastructure, it said adding that PEs and VCs are likely to invest about $3.5 billion in clean technology in the next few years.     

Assocham further said that the other prospective areas of investment include film production and education. "It is expected that VCs would invest $0.25 billion in film production in the next five years."