The government is mulling to set up of Infrastructure Investment Trusts that will manage infrastructure projects over a longer period of time. The trust will be on the lines of the already in place Real Estate Investment Trust, Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram said on Monday.
Speaking at FICCI’s 5th India Infrastructure Summit 2013, he said the government was working on deepening the bond market and would set up a fund to promote debt and equity investment in the infra space.
On the equity side, Mayaram said “in two months the government will come up with Infrastructure Trust Fund, which would be in the nature of Real Estate Investment Trust.
Under the new structure, underlying revenue of a project will be transferred to a trust which will issue units to investors, including foreign investors who want to buy the units.
“In the next 2-3 months there will be greater deepening of the equity and bond markets for financing of the infrastructure sector,” Mayaram said.
“On the debt side, the government is making efforts to develop the corporate bond market and encourage Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to invest in infrastructure projects,” he said.
Mayaram said it was important to engage overseas pension funds and sovereign wealth funds and that once they come Indian investors would also follow suit.