A number of sovereign and pension funds, including from Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Russia, have evinced interest in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Tuesday.

“There could be several arms of the NIIF for supporting various infrastructure projects and these funds could invest in them as well,” he told reporters after the first meeting of the Governing Council of the fund.

The ₹40,000-crore fund was also formally launched and its first Chief Executive Officer is likely to be appointed next month.

“We hope the CEO selection process is completed over the next few weeks,” Jaitley said.

Announced in the Union Budget 2015-16, the NIIF aims to attract investments from domestic and international sources for core sector projects. The Centre will invest ₹20,000 crore in the fund, while the balance is expected from the private sector.

The Finance Ministry had set up a search-cum-selection committee in October, headed by Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das for selecting the CEO of the investment management company under the NIIF. 

“The Governing Council also noted the possible projects that may be taken up under the NIIF,” said a Finance Ministry release.

Jaitley said India Infrastructure Finance Company has been appointed as the investment advisor to NIIF for a six-month period, while IDBI Capital Market Services has been selected as advisor to NIIF Trustee for a period of one year. The Fund has also been registered with SEBI as Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) on December 28, 2015.

The next meeting of NIIF is likely to be held in March.

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