Former Gujarat Metro chief Sanjay Gupta to launch PE fund

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Ahmedabad, Sept 3:  

Bureaucrat-turned-entrepreneur Sanjay Gupta, who resigned recently as Executive Chairman of the Rs 22,000-crore Metro-link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad (MEGA), to return to his own businesses, is floating a private equity fund to initially raise Rs 250-300 crore from India and abroad to fund his enterprises as well as those of others.

Gupta, who last week said he was following in N. R. Narayana Murthy's footsteps while returning to his businesses, told Business Line here that in his fresh endeavour to raise a PE fund, he is following the example of the Tatas to fund his own companies, besides those of others.

He has already approached the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in this regard and hopes to obtain its regulatory approvals in the next couple of months for operationalising the fund.

His PE fund, called Let India Fly for Ever, or LIFE, will focus on the media, hospitality, healthcare and lifestyle businesses. This is being done with a vision to accelerate the growth of upcoming SMEs and profit-focused start-ups from different industry sectors.

The first scheme to be launched under this PE fund is titled ‘India Aspiration Scheme’ which will focus on SMEs and industries with a turnover between Rs 20 crore to Rs 200 crore. The LIFE fund falls under Category II–AIS SEBI regulations.

In view of entrepreneurs facing challenges in finding growth capital, LIFE will infuse capital in select enterprises to overcome bottlenecks and accelerate the country’s growth, Gupta said.

Apart from infusing financial support to the SMEs, LIFE fund will also provide business intelligence and a support network pertaining to a range of businesses depending upon their need and situation.

An IAS officer of the 1985 batch of the Gujarat cadre, Gupta had resigned after Narendra Modi became the Chief Minister in October 2001. The former bureaucrat, known for his networking expertise and turning around the GSPC Group, joined the Adani Group as an Advisor and later became an entrepreneur. He had joined MEGA, the special purpose vehicle for the Metro project, in April 2011. “Following its financial closure achieved last week, anybody can now implement the project,” he added.

Before stepping down as Metro chief on health grounds and to focus on his string of businesses, Gupta said a consortium of 10 public banks headed by Punjab National Bank (PNB) had sanctioned a debt of Rs 4,700 crore, of which Rs 3,100 crore has been allocated for Phase-IA, that would be implemented by August 2017.

Gupta is the promoter of business conglomerate Neesa Group with interests in a 1,200-room hotel chain, infrastructure, food and agritech, real estate, construction, IT and media business.