The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) interacted with 1,000 PE and VC firms during May and June to evaluate their interest in the education sector from an investment point of view and sought their views on following issues:
- Is education an attractive sector for VC funding?
- What are the policy constraints for VC funding in the education sector?
- If the right ecosystem is ahttps://web.archive.org/web/20160731203038/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_Indiavailable, what could be the magnitude of PE that could flow into this sector?
Venture Capital in Indian Schools
As many as 550 respondents said they reckon education is a profitable sector with a potential to attract huge VC funding adding that PE’s and VCs can play a pivotal role in expanding education and support the government in meeting its obligation under the Right to Education Act which provides for free and compulsory education for children between 6 and 14 years of age. “Private sector can chip in to boost the education infrastructure in the country,” said Mr. Rawat. Over half of the participants expressed their interest to invest in education and said the sector is likely to attract investment between Rs 2,250 crore to Rs 4,500 crore during the course of the next three years.
Almost 90 percent of venture capitalists referred to policy constraints restraining the funding in education.
The respondents highlighted various policy constraints like lack of clarity on current and future education policy, lack of clarity on land rules where schools are built, licensing higher education capacity, treating education as a non-profit activity, difference in education rules and regulations across states. Most of the respondents were jittery about the multiple entity structures followed by various industry players like property company, management company and trust and it is too complicated for investors to control in terms of rights.
