Private equity (PE) investments in India's small and medium enterprise (SME) sector fell to $151 million in January-February 2013, from $306.27 million in the year-ago period - a decline of 51 per cent. Experts say in the current environment, PEs would look at bigger companies where the perceived risk is lower.
Besides, funds focussed on SMEs are facing difficulty in raising money from investors owing to the prevailing negative sentiment. While the trend is expected to continue for two more years, enterprises that can show differentiation and uniqueness would be able to attract money from PE funds, they added.The data, compiled by Venture Intelligence, a Chennai-based research firm which tracks PE and venture capital flows into India, showed that in the first two months of 2013, only 18 deals were reported, compared to 28 deals in the year-ago period.

Source - http://www.business-standard.com