Infrastructure mutual funds came in vogue a few years ago, and there are plenty of mutual funds that can help you get exposure to the infrastructure sector if you want to.
Here is a list of infrastructure mutual funds in India, and if you feel I’ve missed any, please let me know and I’ll update the list. I’ve taken the returns data from the individual websites, scheme information documents, and in some cases Value Research, so they may not correspond to exactly the same period, but should still give a decent idea on how each of these funds have performed in the past.
Infrastructure Mutual Funds in India
1. Reliance Infrastructure Fund: Here is a mutual fund that I wrote about during its NFO early last year. It has returned 10.31% for the past year, and since it’s not that old, the 3 year or 5 year returns are not available for it.
2. Tata Infrastructure Fund: This is a slightly older fund and was listed in 2004. The one year return for this fund has been 17.54%, 3 year returns have been 6.35% and 5 year returns have been 21.81%. It has done better than the BSE Sensex in all these periods.
3. ICICI Prudential Infrastructure Fund: This fund gained 12.20% in the last year, 9.64% in the last 3 years, and 24.47% in the last 5 years.
4. UTI Infrastructure Fund: This fund also came out in 2004, and returned 11.79% last year, 7.67% in the last 3 years, 23.65% in the last five years.
5. HDFC Infrastructure Fund: This fund was started in March 2008, so like the Reliance Infrastructure mutual fund, there isn’t as much past returns information available for it.
6. Birla Sun Life Infrastructure Fund: This fund was started in March 2006; the one year returns are 24.41%, and the 3 year returns are 4.49%.
7. Sahara Infrastructure Fund: The Sahara Infrastructure fund was launched in April 2006, and the one year return for this fund is 9.43%.
8. Canara Robeco Infrastructure Fund: The Can Infrastructure fund was launched in November 2005, and the one year return for the fund is 26.02%, while the 3 year returns are 7.00%.
9. Bharti AXA Focused Infrastructure Fund: This fund was launched early this year, so there isn’t much performance data on it yet.
10. SBI Infrastructure Fund: This is the only close ended infrastructure fund mentioned here so far, which means that you can’t buy and sell the fund any time, and there are only certain periods of time when the fund opens for subscription, and when you can redeem your units. However the fund did start in June 2007 with a three year lock-in period, so it should be available for purchase now.
11. Tata Indo-Global Infrastructure Fund: This is a slightly unique fund in the sense that it invests in infrastructure in not only India, but other emerging countries as well. The fund was established as a close ended scheme in October 2007 for a 3 year period, and would’ve converted to an open ended fund after the period. Looking at the portfolio as at 31st March, it appears that the fund has invested 77.95% in Indian equities, and 19.75% in foreign securities which includes Invesco Infrastructure C and Credit Suisse Emerging Market Infrastructure Eq0-B. Since inception the fund has returned a total of -9.72% (as on March 31, 2010).
12. LIC Infrastructure Fund: The LIC Infrastructure fund was launched in February 2008, and has returned 13.85% in the last year. The return since inception has been 2.36%.
13. Benchmark Infra BeeS: This is actually an ETF not a mutual fund, but is included here as it gives you equity exposure to the infrastructure sector. The investment objective of the Scheme is to provide returns that, before expenses, closely correspond to the total returns of the securities as represented by the CNX Infrastructure Index. The index includes companies belonging to Telecom, Power, Port, Air, Roads, Railways, Shipping and other Utility Services Providers
As you can see there are quite a few infrastructure funds already available, and if you think I missed any, please leave a comment, and I’ll update the post.
Which is the best infra fund pls advise to invest
Sorry Veera – I haven’t done that analysis yet, so don’t know which one is the best among them. Please check sites like Value Research for their past returns etc.
Dear Veera,
A Sector Fund is a strict no-no, especially if you are investing in Lumpsum.
One bad policy decision, and lo, the entire sector looks down and out and you will be left holding a drowning boat.
Go for Diversified Funds as there is nothing that prevents a Fund Manager in investing in Infrastructure sector if he finds the sector attractively valued.
Team,
Can you suggest me some good open ended infrastructure funds for tax saving purpose prevailing in India market.
Regards,
gaurav
Hi Gaurav,
This is the list of infrastructure mutual funds, but they don’t get you any tax benefits. Are you looking for infrastructure bonds like the current IFCI issue?
Here is a post about that
http://www.onemint.com/2010/11/23/ifci-infrastructure-bonds-tax-saving-bonds-under-section-80-ccf/
Hi Manshu,
Thanks for this useful information.
Are these MFs equivalent to infrastructure bonds which give additional tax exemption (addition to 1 lakh investment) ?
That’s a good point actually, but no they don’t, that’s just for the bonds, and these mutual funds don’t fall under that category.
Hi Manshu,
Apart from the mutual funds through which we can invest in infrastructure there is also a recent addition to this list, that is, Benchmark has come out with Infra BeeS, which invests in the CNX Infrastructure Index. The components of the CNX Infra index covers fairly all the heavy weights of Infrastruture and capital goods.
Regards
Prasanna
Thank you very much for the info, much appreciated…will update the post with this new info.