Standard Chartered, the UK-based bank, has agreed to sell its Indian asset management units to Infrastructure Development Finance for $205 million after it failed to sell them last year to UBS, the giant Swiss bank.

IDFC, the buyer, finances roads, ports and utilities in India. IDFC will pay cash for the units, called Standard Chartered Trustee Company and Standard Chartered Asset Management Company. IDFC plans to complete the purchase in the second quarter pending regulatory approval, Standard Chartered said in a statement.

Standard Chartered failed last year to sell the businesses to UBS for $120 million after a sale agreement failed to win regulatory approval from the Reserve Bank of India. As a result, Standard Chartered had to resume finding a buyer for its business this year.

By selling the unit, Standard Chartered will no longer manage funds in India and instead focus on consumer and commercial banking. Standard Chartered said the deal does not include its mutual fund distribution business.

The transaction pits IDFC against Reliance Capital Asset Management, an Indian company, as well as overseas managers including Franklin Resources, the US asset manager. Despite worries about the impact on global growth of the US sub-prime mortgage crisis, India is seen as offering strong opportunities for wealth management due to a rapidly expanding and affluent middle class.