NDTV Profit reported that Indian investor Ashish Kacholia ruled out a mutual fund launch and pointed readers to Carnelian Small Cap Fund, whose sponsor identifies his friend Vikas Khemani as a founder.
NDTV Profit said the X post was dated Nov. 1 and reproduced Kacholia’s answer as “Never” to a question about launching a fund. NDTV Profit reported that Kacholia recommended the Carnelian scheme and advised readers to consult a financial adviser. It said he included Khemani among fund managers he considered good.
Carnelian says the fund’s new fund offer (NFO), or initial subscription period, ran from Oct. 16 to Oct. 30, 2026. That period ended before the post date reported by NDTV Profit. Carnelian classifies the product as an open-ended equity scheme with most investments directed to small-cap stocks and gives it a “Very High” risk rating. The company names Deepak Malik and Viraj Parekh as fund managers.
Carnelian sets an assets-under-management (AUM) ceiling of ₹5,000 crore for the scheme. AUM is the value of assets the fund oversees; Carnelian says the cap is intended to preserve flexibility in small-cap investing.
The Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI) reported total industry assets of ₹82.64 trillion and 286.2 million folios as of Sept. 30, 2026. It also reported September systematic investment plan (SIP) contributions of ₹32,490 crore, 10.06 crore contributing SIP accounts and ₹17.86 trillion in SIP assets. The figures describe the wider Indian mutual fund industry: the asset and folio totals are as of month-end, while SIP contributions cover September. Together, they show the sector’s overall size and monthly activity, not subscriptions to the Carnelian scheme.
