FM Nirmala Sitharaman chairs 5th meeting of NIIF Governing Council

NIIF Governing Council Meet: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman chaired the 5th meeting of the Governing Council (GC) of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), in New Delhi, on November 17.  The GC appreciated two infra non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), with NIIF majority stakes, as they have been able to increase their combined loan book from Rs. 4,200 crores to Rs 26,000 crore in 3 years without any non-performing loans (NPLs).

The GC noted that NIIF has developed into an internationally credible and commercially viable investment platform, backed by several highly respected global and domestic investors who have invested alongside the Government of India in NIIF Funds.

NIIF’s first bilateral fund - an “India Japan Fund” with a contribution from the government of India has been proposed through an MoU between National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) and Japan Bank for International Development (JBIC). The MoU was signed on November 9, 2022. The Finance Minister asked the NIIFL team to build on the work done so far and leverage India’s attractive investment fundamentals to expand its operations.  Sitharaman encouraged the team to continue discussions with investors from countries that are keen to invest in India.

The Finance Minister exhorted the NIIFL team to also explore opportunities under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, PM GatiShakti, and National Infrastructure Corridor, which include a big pool of investible greenfield and brownfield investment projects, and to try and bring in commercial capital investments into those opportunities. 

The GC also guided NIIF to undertake advisory activities proactively to support central and state governments to create a pipeline of investible public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

“During the meeting, an update on the progress made by NIIF over the last few years and key learnings from its investment operations were presented to the Governing Council. The GC was apprised of the current status of the 3 funds that are currently managed by NIIFL – the Master Fund, the Fund of Funds (FoF), and the Strategic Opportunities Fund (SoF),” stated the release.