Lehman to launch India real estate fund - report

MUMBAI, April 16 (Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc LEH.N sees opportunities in India despite volatile markets, and will launch its first dedicated India fund this year for real estate, the investment bank's country head said in an interview published on Wednesday.

"We are now starting to see some excellent investing opportunities, at both the project level and company level," Tarun Jotwani, chairman and chief executive of Lehman Brothers India, told the Mint paper.

Lehman has deployed around $2 billion in India so far and is preparing to raise its first dedicated India fund this year, the paper said.

"It will be for real estate, and a companion to our Global Real Estate Fund," Jotwani was cited as saying.

The proposed fund will be "large enough to give us significant firepower in a sector that is experiencing a capital crunch, but small enough and flexible enough to allow us to build a top quality portfolio," Jotwani told the paper.

Citigroup (C.N) and Morgan Stanley (MS.N) have also invested in real estate in India, while rivals including Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and HSBC (HSBA.L) are also beefing up their presence ahead of a planned review in 2009 of banking rules, which may ease some curbs in the tightly controlled market. (Reporting by Rina Chandran; Editing by John Mair)