The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is likely to invest $200 million in a fund-of-funds set up by India to take interest in infrastructure projects.
SC Garg, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, says there will be a leverage of 10-12 times on the original investment, which can result in up to $2.4 billion flowing to finance infrastructure projects. “The board (AIIB) is approving a project and is investing $200 million – $100 million now and $100 million in the near future – in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) India has set up,” said Garg while addressing the media at AIIB’s annual meeting in Mumbai. He added that the AIIB investment will be in a fund-of-funds, hinting that it will be different from the master fund closed recently.
When asked if the investment quantum is low, given that the overall size of the NIIF is $6 billion, Garg replied in the negative, pointing out that the investment by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority was also $250 million.
Further, he said that the government has sent a proposal to fund $475 million for the Mumbai Urban Transport Project-III to the AIIB, the concept of which has been approved. He added that the proposal to have an independent credit rating agency for BRICS nations is on track and will be discussed at a meeting at Johannesburg in July.
– Rahul Kamat
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.