New Delhi, June 29 -- In a significant step to deepen India's investment commitment for infrastructure and other nationally important sectors, the Union Cabinet last week approved an additional investment commitment of Rs 30,000 crore by the Centre towards new and upcoming funds of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
With the decision of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the government's total commitment to NIIF stands at Rs 60,000 crore, an official statement said on Monday.
NIIF is India's sovereign-anchored fund, professionally run and managed by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIFL).
The Government of India is a 49 per cent shareholder in NIIF, and it currently manages capital commitments of approximately Rs 40,000 crore across its funds and investment strategies.
NIIF has demonstrated a strong track record of capital deployment and realisations, having returned close to Rs 12,000 crore to investors through large portfolio exits, it said.
NIIF has raised capital from marquee institutional investors, including Sovereign Wealth Funds, Pension Funds, Multilateral Development, and leading Domestic Financial Institutions, it said.
These include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, AustralianSuper, CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, PSP Investments, Temasek, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, New Development Bank, Asian Development Bank, Japan Bank for International Cooperation, US International Development Finance Corporation, Axis Bank, HDFC Group, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and State Bank of India.
These investors span diverse geographies, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States, reflecting strong international confidence in India's growth trajectory and NIIF's governance and commercial track record, it said.
NIIF's four operational investment strategies - infrastructure, private markets, growth equity and climate investments in the India-Japan business corridor- have achieved notable investment momentum.
NIIF's first infrastructure fund, with a corpus of Rs 16,000 crore, is India's largest domestic infrastructure fund and has created platforms across transportation (roads, ports & logistics, and airports), energy (renewables, smart meters and power transmission) and digital infrastructure. Its Private Markets Fund has invested in multiple AIFs managed by home-grown managers, which in turn have invested in areas such as climate, affordable housing, affordable healthcare and venture capital (VC) technologies.
NIIF's Strategic Opportunities Fund has focused on growth sectors such as financial services, healthcare and manufacturing.
NIIF's India-Japan Fund is its first bilateral fund and focuses on climate and circular economy, and energy transition, as well as investments that further the India-Japan business corridor,
it said.
Collectively, funds managed by NIIF have deployed capital across key sectors including transportation, energy transition, healthcare, digital infrastructure, electric mobility, affordable housing, manufacturing, and technology across multiple states and Union Territories.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.