'Hope to invest ₹2-3K crore in India over three to five years'

Copenhagen-based Investment Fund for Developing Countries (IFU) has made more than 100 investments in India so far. In fact, the country is the top investment destination for the Danish development finance institution.

- Beena Parmar

IFU has invested in companies such as Ugro Capital and Arohan Financial Services in recent months. It intends to make larger bets in India and is particularly looking at green energy and social inclusion segments, Deepa Hingorani, senior vice president at IFU, said in an interview. Hingorani, also the head of Asia and financial services at IFU overseeing India investments, said IFU expects India's share in its portfolio to continue to rise, from 9% at present of the total $2.3 billion assets under management (AUM). She also spoke about IFU's India portfolio, emerging themes, focus on direct investments and attractive areas. Edited excerpts:

Could you talk about growth of IFU's India investments over the last one year?

Out of the 107 investments we've made in India since the 1990s, 15 are active right now, cumulatively valued at $200 million. We have reached the country limit of 30% allocation including deployment from SDG fund I that raised $700 million. However, India being the largest country in IFU's overall portfolio, we are still at only 9% exposure, and will invest more from SDG fund 2, which is in the process of raising $1 billion. We have made investments in renewable energy (Cleanmax), financial services, healthcare (DCDC Healthcare), sustainable food and agriculture space (Leap India) and Suminter Organics.

What kind of bets are you looking at over the next one year?