Axis PE Invests $30M In Delhi’s Rail Line Maker Harish Chandra
Axis Private Equity, the private equity arm of Axis Bank, has made its maiden deal. It has invested $30 million (Rs 126 crore) in Delhi-based railway line manufacturer Harish Chandra India Ltd (HCIL), through its recently-launched Axis Infrastructure Fund-I. Business Standard reported that Axis PE has picked up over 25 per cent stake in the company. It will get two board memberships in the company. Axis recently announced the first closure of $150 million of its $500 million infrastructure fund. The second tranche of funds worth $350 million will be raised under the Axis Infrastructure Fund-II.
HCIL builds tracks, bridges, roads apart from electrification work for the railways and has an order book of around Rs 1,200 crore. Till date the company has laid 120 km of railway track and is working on another 200 km in Orissa. Axis PE expects the company to treble its size in the next 3-5 years. Axis is looking at sectors like power, aviation, hospitality, pipeline and logistics as investment targets for its fund.
Infrastructure is one of the prime targets for global funds looking to invest in India. Recently, UK’s 3i raised $1.2 billion India infrastructure fund while many others including India’s largest bank SBI along with Australia’s Macquarie have announced a $2 billion core-sector fund. ICICI Ventureand Kotak Private Equity are also raising billion dollar infra funds.
