Arun Jaitley discusses operationalisation of Rs 40,000 crore sovereign wealth fund

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday discussed the operationalisation of India`s first Rs 40,000 crore sovereign wealth fund, the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

"Second meeting of the governing council of the NIIF was held under the chairmanship of Arun Jaitley to review the status of actions taken for the operationalisation of the NIIF and to provide the road map for further activities," the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

Jaitley also launched NIIF website here on Wednesday during the second governing council meet of the sovereign wealth fund.

The council discussed the long term investors, sovereign wealth funds and pension funds, which are seeking to invest in the NIIF, the statement said.

The progress on the MoUs (memorandum of understanding) for investment in NIIF with several investors such as Abu Dhabi Investment Authority from UAE, open joint-stock company Rusnano from Russia and Qatar Investment Authority, Qatar were also discussed, it said.

Financial Times, London has adjudged NIIF as the most innovative structure in Asia Pacific under finance category. The guidelines for investment of the corpus of NIIF were also discussed at the meeting.

"The NIIF would have various sector-specific or investor-specific close ended funds and each fund may issue various classes of units. The government along with other investors would subscribe to the units of various funds," it said.

The units, investment strategy and accounts of each fund shall be distinct from and independent of the other funds, it added. 

The shortlisting of projects for initial investment by the NIIF and the selection of its chief executive officer was also discussed at the meeting. 

"A core team has been put in place to carry-out the activities of the NIIF," the statement said.