Alternative investment funds (AIFs), pooled investment vehicles catering to sophisticated investors, saw investment commitments jump to ₹16.94 trillion at the end of March 2026.
This is a growth of 7 per cent quarter-on-quarter (Q-o-Q) and the surge is 25 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y), according to data from the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi).
Additionally, the funds raised also crossed ₹7 trillion for the first time. The investments made from this pool stood at ₹6.76 trillion at the end of FY26.
In terms of investments, real estate continued to be the top sector with total investments reaching a record ₹1.29 trillion as of March 2026. This compares to investments of ₹75,350 crore at the end of December 2025.
While financial services and IT saw surge in investments, pharma recorded a marginal drop. However, healthcare providers and services gained ground.
The AIF space has seen rising interest in the last few years with commitments scaling from ₹6.4 trillion at the end of March 2022 to nearing ₹17 trillion as of FY26.
However, AIF managers shared that in the last few months the commitments have slowed amid the uncertainty over the West Asia war.
AIFs have a minimum investment threshold of ₹1 crore, though accredited investors are permitted to invest smaller amounts.
These funds invest across a wide spectrum of assets, including infrastructure, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), startups and, in the case of Category-III AIFs, complex trading strategies.