Qatar Holding invests $250m in affordable housing fund

Qatar Holding has committed to invest $250 million in Mumbai-based ArthVeda Fund Management’s affordable housing fund.

Bikram Sen, CEO of Arthveda, says the subscription of the entire corpus of its FDI-compliant affordable housing fund by Qatar Holding is the first substantial foreign investment into India’s affordable housing segment spanning low- and middle-income residences, immediately after India’s Union Budget on Feb. 1.

Sen was previously the CEO of DHFL.

According to ArthVeda Fund Management, India needs to build 19 million urban housing units in the low- and mid-income category by 2022 across first-, second- and third-tier cities, which requires a capital investment of $1 trillion.

AVFM is part of Wadhawan Global Capital, a financial services conglomerate, with Dewan Housing Finance Corp. as the flagship entity.

AVFM’s domestic $17 million Dream Fund exited in 2015. A mid-income $22 million domestic Star Fund I is due to achieve ex