The private equity arm of Standard Chartered has invested USD 45 million for a minority stake in Indian engineering services firm Inox India Ltd, the companies said in a joint statement.

The funds would be used for expansion and potential acquisitions, the statement said.

Inox is a manufacturer of cryogenic storage and transportation equipment, a precision engineering product used for storage and distribution of liquefied gases used in industrial applications.

Private equity investments in India were down 39.99% in the first half of this year to USD 3.81 billion from USD 6.34 billion a year ago, according to VCCircle.com, an industry tracker.