Spriha Srivastava

French private equity and infrastructure investor, AXA Private Equity, has made an investment worth €3m in JIT Solaire, a French solar energy group.

India Infrastructure Finance Company, a state-owned special purpose vehicle, is understood to have asked the government to remove a limit on the ability of its UK subsidiary to lend to Indian infrastructure projects.

Overseas pension funds are reportedly looking to help Indian infrastructure developer SKIL Infrastructure to raise over $500m. SKIL plans to divest a 20 percent stake via a private placement and a listing in the Bombay stock exchange.

The Indian power firm is part of a consortium that has won a bid to develop a 240-megawatt geothermal power plant in Northern Sumatra, Indonesia. The project could cost more than $800m and is expected to be completed by 2015.

California’s Metro Gold Line Authority has issued a request for proposals to its three shortlisted bidders for a light rail PPP. The project is estimated at over $450m with proposals due on January 2011.

First State Investments, the investment arm of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, has made three new appointments to its unlisted infrastructure team. The new appointees will be part of the team that manages the European Diversified Infrastructure Fund (EDIF).

The investment arm of government-backed power trading company, PTC India, has received infrastructure financing status from India’s central bank. The classification will enable PFS to engage in infrastructure lending in a more flexible manner.

Gortahile Windfarm, which owns and operates a 20-megawatt project in County Laois in Ireland, has been acquired by a fund managed by BNP Paribas Clean Energy Partners. The fund, which has a target size of €405m, aims to acquire additional wind generation assets in Ireland over a course of its investment period.

The initial public offer for the Indian port developer and operator based in Gujarat, west India, was subscribed over 20 times on the final day of bidding. A spokeswoman said the developer had managed to raise more than its initial $107m target.

The Indian energy firm is reportedly in talks with New York hedge fund DE Shaw to launch an $800m infrastructure fund.