The capital pumped in by alternative investment funds rose to nearly Rs 1.10 lakh crore in the January-March quarter this year, an increase of 78.7 per cent from the year-ago period.
Alternative investment funds (AIFs) are a class of pooled-in vehicles for investing in real estate, private equity and hedge funds.
AIF investments stood at Rs 61,401.57 crore in the March quarter of 2017-18, according to the latest data collected by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Of Rs 1.10 lakh crore investment, Category I AIFs poured in Rs 10,893 crore, Category II Rs 68,085.75 crore and Category III Rs 30,801.78 crore.
Compared quarterly, AIF investments came in at Rs 92,825.22 crore in the October-December period.
AIFs are funds established or incorporated in India for the purpose of pooling in capital from Indian and foreign investors for investing as per a pre-decided policy.
Under the SEBI guidelines, AIFs can operate broadly in three categories, the category-I AIFs are those funds that get incentives from the government and regulators and include social venture, infrastructure and venture capital funds.
The category-II AIFs can invest anywhere in any combination, but are prohibited from raising debt, except for meeting their day-to-day operational requirements.
The category-III AIFs are those trading with a view to making short-term returns .
These AIFs include private equity and debt funds or fund of funds.