NEW DELHI: The total infrastructure financing India gets from multilateral agencies in terms of percentage is much smaller than what it was two decade ago and the country is no longer dependent on such aid, said Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das.
The National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIIF) is in the process of attracting long-term funds — pension funds, sovereign wealth funds etc. “We are looking at various multilateral agencies. For example, we are discussing with Asian Development Bank for local currency bonds that they can float it,” said Das.
NIIF is trying to attract investors to become partners of India in setting up this fund, with the government share remaining at 49 per cent. “We are in an advanced stage of discussion with multilateral institutions and long-term investors as equity partners and at other levels to invest directly into the projects,” said Das.
Das said many sovereign wealth funds have shown considerable investments and a few pacts were likely to be inked soon.