The largest private bank of India ICICI Bank is planning to make more investment in the small and medium enterprises (SME) sector. It has decided to set up a $200 million (Rs 8 billion) private equity fund exclusively for SMEs.

The head of business banking of ICICI Bank Ltd, Sanjiv Sherawat said that the bank would make the investment within the next five to six months.

The ICICI Ventures has been the PE investment arm of ICICI Bank as of now. It will start PE investment by itself from now onwards. The company will mainly focus on pharmaceuticals, jewellery, textile and capital goods.

The bank is expecting good revenue from the growing SME lending business.