This report covers Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), their inter-linkages with the financial ecosystem and role in developing India’s private capital markets. Development of private capital markets is essential to provide non-traditional investment avenues to HNIs, witnessing rising income levels, and fulfilling continued foreign investor demand, while quenching the funding thirst present in new-age sectors. AIFs act as a crucial vehicle to access these private capital markets. The report further discusses key trends impacting the industry like global funding winter, IFSC (GIFT City), and private credit while commenting on the ever-evolving regulatory ecosystem. It culminates in outlining emerging opportunities and potential regulatory proposals that might result in the next leg of growth for the industry, subject to certain caveats.