About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF):
- It is a fund created by the Government of India for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country.
- It is India’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund (SWF).
- NIIF got registered with SEBI as Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) in 2015.
- It is a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors with a mandate to invest equity capital in domestic infrastructure.
- NIIF invests across asset classes such as infrastructure, private equity, and other diversified sectors in India, with the objective of generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for its investors.
- It invests in greenfield (new), brownfield (existing), and stalled projects.
- NIIF is 49% owned by the Indian government and has more than $5 billion in assets under management, making it the country’s biggest infrastructure fund.
- NIIF benefits from its association with the Government yet is independent in its investment decisions.
- It is professionally run and managed by National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL).
- Over the years, NIIF has attracted investments from leading global sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, multilateral development institutions, and domestic financial institutions.
- Currently, there are four funds under the NIIF Umbrella.
- NIIF Master Fund: This fund primarily invests in infra-related projects such as roads, ports, airports, and power. It is the largest infrastructure fund in India.
- NIIF Private Markets Fund: Invests in funds managed by third-party managers in infrastructure and associated sectors.
- NIIF Strategic Opportunities Fund: It invests and develops large-scale businesses and greenfield projects that are of strategic importance to the country.
- India-Japan Fund:
- NIIF’s first bilateral fund invests in environment preservation in India.
- It also seeks to enable opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Japanese companies in India.
- The Fund has a target corpus of US$600 million, with the Government of India contributing 49% and the remaining 51% contributed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, a policy-based financial institution wholly owned by the Government of Japan.
