hyderabad over 1000 kgclass 12 schools in the country are up for sale hoping to pool in an investment of close to rs 7500 crore roughly 1 billion in the next twothree years with the covid19 wave hitting indias education sector hardmostly on offer are private budget schools with an annual fee cap of rs 50000 shows data compiled by cerestra ventures market leaders in the education infrastructure sector about 80 of school education in india is catered to by this category of institutes many state governments have put caps on fee collection even as schools are expected to pay salaries to teachers apart from bearing other overhead costs this has made staying afloat a struggle for these institutions said vishal goel partner cerestra one large school chain had to slash nonteaching staff salaries by up to 70 he addedeven funding has become difficult to come through with financial institutions hesitant on lending owing to lack of clarity over how the situation will pan out that has added to their woes he added goels company has an expansive portfolio 30 to 40 kgclass 12 schools that it is eyeing to acquire at an estimated investment of roughly rs 1400 crorealso scouting for quality assets are established education companies with strong strategic interest said prajodh rajan cofounder and group ceo of eurokids international the chain which currently has 30 kgclass 12 schools in india is also aggressively on the lookoutin many cases these schools have taken a hit because its promoters have a diversified portfolio such as real estate and the adverse impact on their other businesses has had an effect on the balance sheet of the schools added rajan between karnataka maharashtra and telangana there are at least 20 to 25 schools that are looking for prospective buyers said rakesh gupta managing partner of loestro advisors the company had facilitated one of the biggest school acquisitions of 2019 of oakridge international by hong kongbased nord anglia educationthe indian chain with branches in hyderabad visakhapatnam bengaluru and mohali was reportedly bought for rs 1600 crore now given the slump investors foresee a 3040 drop in the cost of acquisitions but will this trend increase the cost of education i do not think so though reopening a school might involve some added costs everybody in the sector is sensitive towards students i do not see fee structures crossing a certain limit said rajanthe acquisitions might bring more stability to indias education feels rmc reddy managing director and ceo of schoolnet india limited a pioneer in education technology since these financial institutions and school chains have deeper pockets it will also help reduce the technological divide that currently runs deep between premier schools and budget private schools he saidwatch covid19 effect over 1000 schools up for sale across india hoping to pool in an investment of close to rs 7500 crore