The Mercury News is running a notable series about the return to India by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs as venture capitalists. It gives you a taste of the “India rising” excitement, but also of the country’s daunting cultural, social and infrastructure challenges.

>> Link to Audio Presentation : “INDIA 2.0 : The Elephant Starts to Dance”

It features Vani Kola, who returned this summer to begin investing a new fund into Indian start-ups, NEA IndoUS Ventures (size targeted initially at $105 million), which we mentioned earlier here. It also features Rahul Khanna, pictured below, director of Clearstone Venture Advisors, who returned last year to invest a $205 million India fund, and Bob Kondamoori, pictured bottom, who is reportedly launching a $100 million India fund, Sandalwood Partners.

The key stat: VCs have invested $355 million during the first nine months of 2006, nearly twice as much as the two previous years combined.

Source: Venture Beat : India Rising

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