NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet has approved an additional ₹30,000 crore investment in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), taking the Centre’s total commitment to India’s sovereign-anchored fund to ₹60,000 crore, the finance ministry said on Monday.
The fresh allocation will primarily be used to launch NIIF Infrastructure Fund II, the successor to its flagship infrastructure fund, with a target corpus of ₹30,000 crore. The new fund will invest in transport, energy, digital infrastructure, urban infrastructure and electric mobility, while part of the allocation will support new investment strategies and successor bilateral funds.
The government said the capital infusion is expected to catalyse long-term foreign investment in India’s infrastructure sector, in line with its strategy of leveraging public investment to crowd in private capital.
Established in 2015, NIIF is a quasi-sovereign investment platform managed by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd, in which the Centre holds a 49 per cent stake. It pools capital from the government and global institutional investors for commercial equity investments in infrastructure and other high-growth sectors.
NIIFL currently manages capital commitments of ₹40,000 crore across its funds and investment strategies. It has returned nearly ₹12,000 crore to investors through portfolio exits, according to the ministry.
The ministry said the additional allocation would support investment in infrastructure and portfolio companies, generate employment and strengthen sectors of strategic importance.
Besides the Centre’s anchor commitment, NIIF has mobilised capital from global sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, multilateral institutions and domestic financial institutions, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, AustralianSuper, CPP Investments, Temasek, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the US International Development Finance Corporation, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank and HDFC group.
NIIF operates four investment strategies covering infrastructure, private markets, growth equity and the India-Japan Fund focused on climate and energy transition projects. It also advises central ministries and state governments on public-private partnership projects, infrastructure monetisation and new financing structures, including the proposed Maritime Development Fund and the Research Development and Innovation Fund.
Source; Business Standard
