Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday impressed on the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to weigh opportunities presented by the government’s key initiatives, such as the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), PM GatiShakti and National Infrastructure Corridor.
Chairing the NIIF’s fifth meeting of the governing council (GC), Sitharaman highlighted that the two infrastructure non-banking financial companies where NIIF has majority stakes, have raised their combined loan book from Rs 4,200 crore to Rs 26,000 crore in just three years without witnessing any non-performing loans as yet.
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According to a finance ministry release, the NIIF’s investment should try and crowd in commercial capital into those opportunities.
These government’s key initiatives meant for the infrastructure sector typically showcase investment opportunities in new and existing infrastructure projects. The NIP alone presents investments potential of Rs 111 trillion in various infrastructure sub-sectors.
The government had committed Rs 20,000 crore for its planned 49% stake in all NIIF funds; the rest was to be raised by the NIIF from international and domestic institutional investors over time. The NIIF Master Fund has raised funds from a clutch of investors, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), Temasek of Singapore, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), AustralianSuper, ICICI Bank, HDFC Group, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Axis bank. ADIA alone had committed $1 billion, CPPIB $600 million and Temasek $400 million.