Venture investments by private equity and venture capital funds were 27% lower on yearly basis in November at USD 3.9 billion, and more than halved from the USD 8.5 billion reported in October, a report said. For the January-November 2020 period, frenetic deal making by Reliance industries in its retail and telecom arms has restricted the overall decline to 8% at USD 41.4 billion across 852 deals, the report by consultancy firm EY and industry lobby India Venture Capital Association (IVCA), said.

Investments into Reliance Retail and Jio Platforms alone contributed USD 17.3 billion of the overall USD 41.4 billion of investments in 2020 till now, and the overall activity would have nearly halved if not for these deals. In November, the fall in activity was attributed to a decline in the number of deals at 66 as against 100 in the year-ago period and 93 in October 2020, the report said. From a sector point of view, retail and consumer products was the top sector in November with USD 1.3 billion in PE/VC investments on the back of large investments in Reliance Retail, it said.

"Going forward, PE/VC investment activity in India can pickup pace faster than expected if positive news emerges from the initial roll out of the various successful vaccines announced globally,” Vivek Soni, a partner at EY, said.

CCI to study on Private Equity PE investments

Equitas Small Finance Bank launches tripartite account for savings

Retail NPAs will be higher in H2FY21, warns Axis Bank