IndusInd plans to float USD 1 bn India-specific fund

Dubai, Sep 16 (PTI) Hindujas-promoted IndusInd Bank has
said it is looking to float a one billion dollar fund (about
Rs 4,500 crore) for investments in India.

"We are going to partner with Indian firms that are known
in the capital market space and are in the process of floating
funds of their own. It is going to be the Hinduja brand name
alongside local firms," promoter of the bank and Group
Chairman S P Hinduja told PTI here.

"One of the things we are planning to do in Dubai is to
offer an offshore fund for investment into India," he said
after the 15th Annual General Meeting of the IndusInd
International Holdings Ltd (Mauritius).

The offshore fund would investment primarily in two
specific sectors, real estate and infrastructure, for which
investors in Dubai are very keen, he added.

On the expansion plan of the bank, he said after 14 years
of the launch, it was time to diversify and look at other
sectors such as capital markets, stock broking, wealth
management and asset reconstruction.

Praising the non-resident Indian community for their
support since its inception, he said that the bank is now
reviving a lot of N.R.I. initiatives.

During the initial stages as much as 90 percent of
IndusInd Bank's deposits were from the N.R.I. community, but
gradually with the growth of the Indian economy, some of the
N.R.I. focus got diluted.

IndusInd Bank Managing Director and CEO Romesh Sobti said
that the bank wants to leverage its N.R.I. base to sell
on-shore products in India and off-shore products abroad.

"N.R.I.s form a critical component of our new plan,"
Sobti said.

The bank, which boasts of an asset of around 6.5 billion
dollar, is awaiting regulatory clearances from either ends to
kick-start its Dubai operations.

On the choice of Dubai as a venue for the AGM, Hinduja
said that about 51 per cent of IndusInd Investment (I.H.L.)
shareholders came from the city.