National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is India’s first infrastructure specific investment fund or a sovereign wealth fund [1]that was set up by the Government of India in February 2015.[2][3] The objective behind creating this fund was to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure investment in commercially viable projects, both Greenfield and Brownfield.[4]

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
TypeInfrastructure Investment Wealth Fund
IndustryInstitutional Investor, Fund Management
FoundedFebruary 2015
HeadquartersMumbai, India
Area served
India
Key people
Sujoy Bose, CEO
Total assets₹27,590 crore (US$3.9 billion)
Websiteniifindia.in

In Union Budget 2015-16, India’s Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley announced the creation of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. It was proposed to be established as an Alternative Investment Fund to provide long tenor capital for infrastructure projects with an inflow of Rs. 20,000 crore from the Government of India.[5] NIIF was approved in August 2015 by the Department of Economic Affairs. First meeting of its governing council was held in December 2015 further to which it was registered with SEBI as Category II Alternative Investment Fund.[6] In June 2016, Finance Ministry announced that they appointed Mr. Sujoy Bose as Chief Executive Office of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) who was then the director at Infrastructure and Natural Resources, International Finance Corporation (IFC).[7]

As of September 2020, the NIIF manages funds of over US$ 4.4 billion.[8] On 22nd November 2020, the Union Cabinet has approved Rs. 6000 crore investment as a part of Atma Nirbar Bharat Abhiyan.

Funds

NIIF manages three funds: Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Fund. The funds were set up to make infrastructure investments in India by raising capital from domestic and international institutional investors.

Master Fund

The Master Fund is an infrastructure fund with the objective of primarily investing in operating assets in the core infrastructure sectors such as roads, ports, airports, power etc.[9]

Fund of Funds

The Fund of Funds anchor and/or invest in funds managed by fund managers who have good track records in infrastructure and associated sectors in India. Some of the sectors of focus include Green Infrastructure, Mid-Income & Affordable Housing, Infrastructure services and allied sectors.[10][11]

Strategic Investment Fund

Strategic Investment Fund is registered as an Alternative Investment Fund II under SEBI in India.[12] The objective of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II (“Strategic Fund”) is to invest largely in equity and equity-linked instruments. The Strategic Fund will focus on green field and brown field investments in the core infrastructure sectors.[13]

Investors in the Fund

In October 2017, NIIF signed the first investment agreement worth $1 billion with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).[14] After this partnership agreement, ADIA became the first international institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd along with Government of India who became 49% shareholder.[15][16] Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) such as HDFC group, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life and Axis bank are also contributors in NIIF’s Master Fund.[17]

In June 2018, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank announced investment of $200 million in NIIF’s Fund of Funds.[18] The AIIB board agreed on investing $100 million as of now and $100 million at a later stage.[19]

Investments

In February 2018, Master Fund created its first platform along with DP World to invest in the ports and logistics sector in India.[20] Together, NIIF and DP world announced investment of $3 billion in the platform.[21] In March 2018, Hindustan Infralog, the joint venture platform between DP World and the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) announced that it bought 90% stake in the logistics firm Continental Warehousing.[22]

In April 2018, NIIF partnered with UK government to launch the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF) under its Fund of Funds.[23] to invest in renewable energy, clean transportation, water and waste management and other related sectors in India.[24]

References
  1. "Budget 2020: Tax exemption for sovereign funds to boost India infra play". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2020-11-28.
  2. "Modi's ambitious India infrastructure fund gets another boost; to jointly invest $3 billion with Dubai's DP World". The Financial Express. 2018-01-22. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  3. "NIIF to sign first investment proposal in next few days: CEO". Live Mint. 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  4. indiainfoline.com. "IIFL - BSE/NSE, India Stock Market Recommendations, Live Stock Markets, Sensex/Nifty, Commodity Market, Financial News, Mutual Funds". www.indiainfoline.com. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  5. "NIIF: An untrodden path that holds promise". The Financial Express. 2016-01-20. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  6. "The NIIF's tough challenge". The Financial Express. 2016-02-08. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  7. Tiwari, Dheeraj (2016-06-27). "Sujoy Bose appointed as new CEO of NIIF". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  8. "NIIF inks $400 mn agreement with Singapore's Temasek". The Economic Times. 6 September 2018. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  9. "NIIF plans $5 bn master fund to oil infrastructure sector wheel". The Financial Express. 2017-09-07. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  10. IANS (2018-06-25). "AIIB to invest $100 mn for India's development projects". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  11. "NIIF to launch $2b fund to finance projects | News | Institutional Real Estate, Inc". Institutional Real Estate, Inc. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  12. "FinMin in talks with investors to set up strategic investment fund under NIIF". @businessline. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  13. "Extract from Press information bureau", 03-August-2018
  14. "NIIF, ADIA sign investment agreement worth $1 billion". The Economic Times. 2017-10-16. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  15. "Abu Dhabi Investment Authority to invest in NIIF's Master Fund". Live Mint. 2017-10-17. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  16. "NIIF signs first investment deal - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  17. "NIIF, DP World to invest up to $3bn in ports, logistics - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  18. "AIIB Clears $200 Million Infusion Into NIIF To Aid Infrastructure Growth". Bloomberg Quint. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  19. "AIIB to invest $200 million into an NIIF fund of funds". The Economic Times. 2018-06-25. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  20. "NIIF, DP World to invest $3 bn". The Hindu. Special Correspondent. 2018-01-22. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2018-07-23.CS1 maint: others (link)
  21. Reporter, B. S. (2018-01-22). "NIIF's first investment: A $3 bn fund for logistics biz with UAE's DP World". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  22. "Hindustan Infralog acquires 90% stake in Continental Warehousing". Live Mint. 2018-03-18. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  23. "Complete List Of Agreements Signed Between India And UK After PM Modi, Theresa May Hold Bilateral Talks". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
  24. "NIIF partners UK govt for Green Growth Equity Fund". Live Mint. 2018-04-19. Retrieved 2018-07-23.
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