Starwood Capital plans to invest around $ 300 mn in India

Starwood Capital, a Private Equity Firm, with over USD 2 billion in assets across the world, is now setting its sights on India.

Balaji Rao, Country Head of Starwood Capital says that they are thinking of investing around USD 300 million in India. He adds that though they don’t have a specific time frame, they would like to do it within the next six-twelve months.

Excerpts from CNBC-TV18's exclusive interview with Balaji Rao:

Q: How much money are you looking to invest in India and over what period?

A: We were looking at India and we were thinking of investing around USD 300 million, which would be a first round of funding in India. Though we don’t have a specific time frame, we would love to do it within the next six-twelve months.

Q: Would these investments be specifically into projects both FDI and non-FDI compliant or would there also be equity stakes that you pick up in listed entities in the country?

A: No, first and foremost, we need to be only looking it FDI compliant projects, as it is Foreign Direct Investment in any case. And we would look at both, project level investments as well as we are open to entity level investments.

Q: For your projects investments, what sort of returns would you be looking at?

A: We would look for returns typically around 25% per annum.

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