The Rs 900 crore (Rs 9 billion) Indian Development Fund (IDF), set up by the Infrastructure Development Finance Company, Life Insurance Corporation and banks, has lined up investments of around Rs 300 crore (Rs 3 billion) including setting up a cold chain joint venture with Concor.
The fund, announced by the government in 2002, is expected to disburse its first investment of Rs 100 crore (Rs 1 billion) to GMR Energy over the next week to 10 days, IDFC executives said.
The Indian Development Fund will also contribute around Rs 100 crore equity in the Gujarat Pipavav port project.
The fund has a corpus of Rs 900 crore contributed by state-owned banks like State Bank of India and Bank of Baroda, besides LIC and IDFC.
The fund can have a maximum corpus of Rs 1,000 crore (Rs 10 billion) and is looking to acquire equity stakes in mid-size infrastructure projects.
The dedicated fund for infrastructure financing was announced in the Budget for the year 2002.
Sources said that Infrastructure Development Finance Company is in talks with some other banks and financial institutions for raising the remaining Rs 100 crore corpus for the fund.
They added that the cold chain joint venture, which would initially focus on creating links between the apple growing states in north India with other parts of the country, is expected to see an initial investment of Rs 300-400 crore (Rs 3-4 billion).
Concor and Indian Development Fund are expected to hold 49 per cent stake each.
"The details of the joint venture are being worked out. We have initiated talks with some companies for the remaining stake," a source said.
The sources also said that the cold chain would be eligible for tax benefits announced by the government and the business plan, which was under finalisation, would factor in the future growth strategy and expansion into other products.
"The venture would ensure that the farmer interest is protected and will result in better price realisation as it would step in right after harvest, treat the fruits and then deliver it in other markets throughout the year," an executive said.
