The Union Cabinet is likely to consider a proposal to infuse Rs 6,000 crore into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).
The move will help the entity raise Rs 1.10 lakh crore by 2025 for financing infrastructure projects. The fund infusion would be made into infra debt fund and infra finance company floated by the quasi-sovereign wealth fund.
The NIIF Strategic Opportunities Fund has set up a debt platform comprising an NBFC Infra Debt Fund and an NBFC Infra Finance Company. The platform has a loan of Rs 8,000 crore and deal pipeline of Rs 10,000 crore.
The Strategic Opportunities Fund has a funding commitment of USD one billion from the government. The proposal of equity infusion of Rs 6,000 crore into NIIF is part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat 3.0 package announced earlier in November 2020. The remaining equity will be raised from private investors.
Around Rs 22,000 crore has already been provided to support the funding of the National Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 111 lakh crore. This would be towards equity support to infrastructure finance companies such as India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) and a subsidiary of NIIF.