<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) have become a significant driver of India&#39;s economic expansion, representing a pivotal role in financing startups, SMEs, infrastructure, and other high-growth sectors that served as a crucial catalyst. The recent growth that we have experienced in past years within the AIF landscape along with recent budget plans for startups, and increasing participation of institutional and high-net-worth investors in AIFs reflects the evolving investment landscape in India. As of September 2024, AIFs have raised over ₹5 trillion, with investment commitments exceeding ₹12 trillion, representing a 30% year-on-year strategic growth. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Union Budget 2025 underscored the importance of AIFs, highlighting that AIFs for startups have already received commitments worth ₹91,000 crore, backed via the Fund of Funds initiative, and an extra additional ₹10,000 crore could be infused to increase their scope. This growing capital deployment is set to in addition accelerate innovation, job creation &amp; introduction, and GDP expansion.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Contribution to GDP and Employment <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">AIFs, particularly Category I SME-focused funds significantly contribute to India&#39;s GDP growth and employment generation. <ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">SME Growth:&nbsp;<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">AIF-backed SMEs grew significantly in the past five years, contributing over 45% of India&rsquo;s total exports.</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Employment Creation:<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;Over 1.6 million jobs have been generated through AIF investments in startups, manufacturing, infrastructure, and fintech.</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Real Estate &amp; Infrastructure Growth:<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;AIFs have infused ₹75,864 crore into real estate and infrastructure projects, improving urban development and connectivity.</li></ul>Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">India&rsquo;s investment panorama is evolving, and Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) are at the coronary heart of this change and transformation. While huge agencies and firms secure institutional funding with no trouble and hurdles, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)&mdash;regardless of being the backbone of the economy frequently struggle to get access to capital. This funding gap has created an opportunity for SME-focused Category I AIFs, which can now be stepping in to fuel the subsequent wave of high-growth companies. <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">In the growing panorama of AIFs, amongst all other different funds, one of the prominent well-known recently recognized funds is the&nbsp;VentureX Fund<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;is a unique Category I AIF designed to support high-growth potential SMEs. With an initial corpus of ₹1,000 crore, this fund strategically invests in rising emerging companies with scalable growth models, offering investors special exclusive access to India&rsquo;s subsequent wave of unicorns and emerging corporations.&nbsp; <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Speaking from the perspective of investors looking for alpha-generating opportunities, VentureX Fund provides a unique investment avenue path&mdash;a well-curated portfolio of high-growth SMEs, sponsored using in-depth and intense forensic analysis and risk management strategies along with thorough due diligence. With India&#39;s economic trajectory pointing closer to a $7 trillion GDP by 2030, SMEs would be at the leading forefront of this transformation, and VentureX targets to capitalize on this momentum.Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">The Indian government has introduced various policies to promote AIFs as a preferred investment vehicle. <ul style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;padding-inline-start:48px;"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Fund of Funds Initiative:<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;₹10,000 crore allocated to AIF-backed startups.</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Tax Incentives:<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">&nbsp;The SEBI and Finance Ministry have come up with taxation norms for AIFs, attracting global investors. Now, AIF will be taxed under capital gains rather than considered as a source of business income.&nbsp;</li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type:disc;font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;"><span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Regulatory Enhancements:&nbsp;<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Stricter governance and compliance measures to boost investor confidence in AIFs.</li></ul> <span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:700;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Conclusion<span style="font-size:12pt;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre;white-space:pre-wrap;">Alternative Investment Funds have grown to be a cornerstone of India&#39;s financial ecosystem, driving capital infusion into key sectors and fueling long-term financial enlargement and economic expansion. With growing investments, coverage assist, and evolving marketplace dynamics, AIFs will continue to reshape India&rsquo;s increased growth trajectory, fostering innovation, job creation &amp; introduction, and striving for sustainable development. As the market matures, strategic funds like Planify&rsquo;s VentureX will in addition enhance SME growth, investor participation, and monetary resilience. Powered by <a href="https://www.froala.com/wysiwyg-editor?pb=1" title="Froala Editor">Froala Editor</a>

The Union Budget 2025 underscored the importance of AIFs, highlighting that AIFs for startups have already received commitments worth ₹91,000 crore

AIF Categories and Investment Distribution

The Rise of SME-Focused Funds:  VentureX AIF, Unlocking SME Growth Potential

Government Support and Policy  Initiatives

Contribution of Alternative Investment Fund in India's Growth