June 25, 2009

LIC Housing Finance Ltd. is setting up a 5 billion rupees (about $100 million) venture fund to invest in the Indian real estate industry as the mortgage lender sees demand reviving in the sector, its chief executive said."We will finalize partners for the fund within a month and launch it by September," R. R. Nair, also a board member, told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview.

The fund will be raised locally, he said, but added it hasn't yet been decided if the fund would be invested in residential or commercial projects."After this, we could also raise an offshore fund of $500 million," Mr. Nair said, without giving details.LIC Housing is founded by Life Insurance Corp. of India - the country's largest life insurer by market share - which holds a 40.8% stake in it.