Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group LP, the world's largest private-equity fund, said buyouts in India will be unaffected by tight credit markets as most deals in the nation are small and not financed by debt.

New York-based Blackstone on Aug. 20 announced its second buyout in India in less than three months. It expects to continue buying companies at the ``normal'' pace, Akhil Gupta, chairman of Blackstone Advisors India Pvt., said yesterday in an interview.

``The current global credit crunch is a unique situation,'' he said. ``India deals aren't going to be affected by that.''

Private equity and venture capital investments in India almost doubled to $5.55 billion in the first half, according to Chennai-based Venture Intelligence, which tracks such deals. Rising funding costs that have made leveraged buyouts costlier in many developed countries won't impact India since regulations don't allow debt-funded takeovers, Gupta said.

``The deal sizes in India are a lot smaller and the laws anyway don't permit much of a leverage,'' he said. ``We may not do lots of deals, but we will do as many good deals as we get.''

Blackstone this week agreed to buy a controlling stake in India's largest garment exporter, Gokaldas Exports Ltd., in a deal valued at $165 million.

In June, the fund announced a management buyout of call- center operator Intelenet Global Services Pvt. Barclays Plc, the U.K.'s third-biggest bank, and Housing Development Finance Corp., India's second-largest mortgage lender.

The average deal size in the first half was $33 million, up from $22 million in the year-earlier period, said Arun Natarajan, chief executive of Venture Intelligence.

``There's about $5 billion of India-dedicated funds lying unutilized and that has to find home only in India, nowhere else,'' Natarajan said. ``To that extent, the deal flow will continue irrespective of the global credit market conditions.''

To contact the reporter on this story: M.C. Govardhana Rangan in Mumbai at grangan@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 22, 2007 07:32 EDT