Macquarie, SBI plan new infra fund

Macquarie Group and State Bank of India are drawing up plans to raise $1 billion to $1.5 billion for their second fund to invest in infrastructure assets and companies in India, according to sources. The first fund, SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Trust, which closed in March after raising $1.2 billion, is down to its last $500 million with some deals in the pipeline, pushing the sponsors to look at a second fund, the sources said. Macquarie and SBI hope to get the paperwork complete and be ready for launch over the next two months. Demand for private equity in core sectors has been growing in India as high interest rates and frozen equity markets shut off other sources of funds.