National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a fund created by the Government of India for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country. NIIF is registered with SEBI as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF).
Objective
The objective of NIIF is to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects.
Functions of NIIF
The functions of NIIF are as follows:
Fund raising through suitable instruments including off-shore credit enhanced bonds, and attracting anchor investors to participate as partners in NIIF;
Servicing of the investors of NIIF.
Considering and approving candidate companies/institutions/ projects (including state entities) for investments and periodic monitoring of investments.
Investing in the corpus created by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) for investing in private equity.
Preparing a shelf of infrastructure projects and providing advisory services.
NIIF:
provides equity / quasi-equity support to those Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs)/Financial Institutions (FIs) that are engaged mainly in infrastructure financing.
invests in funds engaged mainly in infrastructure sectors and managed by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) for equity / quasi-equity funding of listed / unlisted companies.
provides Equity/ quasi-equity support / debt to projects, to commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects.
Operational Aspects
NIIF is not a single entity. There can be more than one fund.
NIIF is eligible for a pass through status under the Income Tax Act. A 'pass-through' status means that the income generated by the fund would be taxed in the hands of the ultimate investor, and the fund itself would not have to pay tax on the same.
The initial authorized corpus of NIIF was Rs. 20,000 crores.
Governance
There is a Governing Council of the NIIF which has Government representatives and experts in international finance, eminent economists and infrastructure professionals. It includes representatives from other non-Government shareholders. The Governing Council oversees the activities of the Trust and is constituted as a separate legal entity.
