SIDBI Venture Capital Ltd (SVCL), the wholly-owned asset management company and a subsidiary of Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), has set up two State-specific funds – one each for West Bengal and Maharashtra – to the tune of Rs. 400 crore for funding start-ups and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.

Each State will have a corpus of Rs. 200 crore, part of which will be raised (first close) from the respective State governments while the remaining will be raised by SIDBI and other investors.

According to Ananta P Sarma, Managing Director and CEO, SVCL, around Rs. 130 crore has been raised for the West Bengal specific fund while around Rs. 105 crore has been raised for Maharashtra.

“The first close for the two State-specific funds has already happened. We hope to raise the entire targeted corpus amount within the next 12 months,” he told BusinessLine.

Of the Rs. 130 crore that has been raised for West Bengal, around Rs. 100 crore has been from the State government. The remaining Rs. 30 crore is from SIDBI. Another commitment of Rs. 20 crore has been received from an insurance company, whose name Sarma did not reveal.

In the case of Maharashtra fund, SIDBI has contributed a similar amount of Rs. 30 crore and the State government provided another Rs. 75 crore. Here too, a commitment of Rs. 40 crore has been received from an insurance company.

According to Sarma, no disbursals have yet begun from these funds. “They were closed (set up) earlier this month,” he added.

At present, SIDBI Venture has close to 53 investments through two funds – India Opportunities Fund and Samaridhi. Both have a corpus of around Rs. 450 crore each, Sarma said.

Two of its previous funds – National Venture Fund for Software and Information Technology (NFSIT) and the SME Growth Fund – have nearly been divested and have secured returns (internal rate of returns) of at least 15 per cent.

Source: Business Line