UK commits GBP120 million
The government has established three funds under the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) platform.
It has registered with Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) one of the funds as Category II Alternative Investment Funds and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II, calling it a Strategic Fund.
The other two funds are National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (or Master Fund) and NIIF Fund of Funds–I.
The objective of National Investment and Infrastructure Fund II (Strategic Fund) is to invest largely in equity and equity-linked instruments, said Minister of State for Finance Pon. Radhakrishnan, in a written reply to parliament on 3 Aug 2018.
The Strategic Fund will focus on green field and brown field investments in the core infrastructure sectors.
The NIIF Funds work on a model whereby equity participation from strategic partners (including overseas sovereign, quasi-sovereign, multilateral, bilateral investors) is invited, alongside Government’s contribution.
The government’s direct contribution/share in the corpus will be capped at 49% in each entity set up as an Alternative Investment Fund.
NIIF Fund of Funds-I’s first investment has been in the Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF).
Department for International Development (DFID), an arm of the UK government, has committed to invest British Pounds 120 million (equivalent to Rs. 1,080 crore) in GGEF, with NIIF Fund of Funds-I also committing an equivalent amount, said Radhakrishnan. fiinews.com
