Bloomberg.com:
Blackstone Group LP, manager of the world’s biggest buyout fund, may raise $500 million this year to invest in India, where a slide in the stock market has made the search for possible targets easier, said the firm’s country head.

Blackstone hasn’t spent any of the $1 billion pledged for India when it entered the country in May last year because the New York-based firm found more attractive targets in other markets, said Akhil Gupta, Blackstone’s chairman in India. A dedicated fund would commit the company to investing, he said.

The firm is competing with rivals such as Carlyle Group Inc. and Warburg Pincus LLC as well as hedge funds in seeking to tap a $775 billion economy the government says can grow as much as 10 percent a year. A 22 percent drop in India’s benchmark stock index since it peaked at a record high on May 10 may make investing easier by bringing asset valuations down.