Over the last year or two, they have been the target of policy change agents in the West. With their investment numbers swelling by the day, private equity, which has been dubbed by some of its adversaries as the new barbarians, is set to come under greater scrutiny in the markets here just as it is in the UK and Europe. India’s financial regulators — RBI and SEBI — and the government are expected to sit together to consider the approach to adopt towards this asset class. The banking regulator has already indicated to the government its uneasiness about PE in certain segments. Like in the US and some other markets, regulation is yet to embrace buyout funds or PE as they are popularly known here. But with the growth in their size and the perception of such funds operating in a twilight zone away from regulatory glare (considering that requirements of registration with regulators are not mandated), policymakers appear to be on course to take a close look at their operations. It sounds strange, but it is a fact that policy managers in India are yet to collate the figures of PE funds in India to ascertain in which sectors and firms the buyout funds are pouring money into. They appear to be in good company. In many other jurisdictions, too, the availability of quantitative data is limited. Policy prescriptions need to wait until then, those associated with the exercise say. […]