New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has signed an investment agreement worth $1 billion with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), an official said on Monday.
“As part of the comprehensive partnership agreement, ADIA will become the first institutional investor in NIIF’s Master Fund and a shareholder in National Investment and Infrastructure Ltd, the NIIF’s investment management company,” a Finance Ministry statement here said.
“This is a significant milestone in operationalisation of NIIF. This agreement paves the way for creating significant economic impact through investment in commercially viable infrastructure development projects,” said Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg.
Six Indian institutional investors — HDFC Standard Life Insurance, HDFC Asset Management, Housing Development Finance Corp, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance and Axis Bank — will also be joining the NIIF Master Fund alongwith ADIA apart from the government, the statement added.
The corpus of the NIIF, set up in 2015, is proposed to be Rs 40,000 crore, of which the central government has committed Rs 20,000 crore. The balance will be raised from long-term international investors like sovereign wealth funds, insurance and pension funds, as well as multilateral agencies.
Investors which have signed MoUs with the NIIF are the UAE government, RUSNANO, QIA, RDIF and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport and Urban Development, the ministry said.
“In addition, DEA (Department of Economic Affairs) has signed terms for cooperation on the NIIF with the US Treasury and the UK Treasury,” it said.
“An India-UK Green Growth Equity Fund shall be set up under the funds vertical of NIIF, and shall have anchor commitments of 120 million pounds each from Government of India (through NIIF) and Government of UK,” it added.