Shailesh Pathak, CEO, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects recommends that even as India moves towards becoming the world's third largest economy by the next decade, the infrastructure sector needs to focus on the timely execution of projects.

Shailesh Pathak, CEO, L&T Infrastructure Development Projects recommends that even as India moves towards becoming the world's third largest economy by the next decade, the infrastructure sector needs to focus on the timely execution of projects.

IndoSpace and GLP have entered into a long-term strategic partnership, where the modern logistics and technology-led solutions provider GLP will be co-investing in IndoSpace’s managed investment vehicles.

Investing in an infrastructure project isn´t really glamorous, more so if it happens to be a still developing economy like India that needs to first create some basic infrastructure. A new road project or a thermal power plant many not excite as much as investing in a cutting-edge technology start-up in India´s own Silicon Valley, Bengaluru

When I came to India last year, I first focused on finding assets to finance. I started with some very small projects. These were portfolios of rooftops or small utility scale projects that gave us an understanding about the issues here. I´d also been advising the Aditya Birla group prior to moving, with the previous firm I was working with in New York.

It-¦s a very relevant point since $1 trillion is required for infrastructure spending as estimated by the 12th Five Year Plan and you need long-term low-cost funds. Clearly, the major supplier of those, the public sector banks historically, are not going to be able to fill this requirement.

Piramal Enterprises Ltd (PEL) is tying up with the worlds second largest pension fund APG Asset Management (APG) to invest $1 billion in Indias roads, ports, airports, power plants, telecom towers, the education and healthcare sectors.

The ever-widening gap in banks' asset liability profile has also compelled policy-makers to find alternate solutions like IDFs, that are meant to supplement bank finance in the country's infrastructure.

Long term financing has been ailing the infrastructure sector making alternate non-banking financing options like Infrastructure Debt Funds (IDFs) more viable. Rahul Kamat and Garima Pant explore the IDF environment in India. The yawning infrastructure gap in the country is seeking closure to unleash its locked growth potential.