Budget May Chart Niif Funding Of 4 Projects

New Delhi: In what could be a major push to infrastructure development, the Budget may chart the first batch of projects that will be funded by the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), which may include the Hyderabad metro rail, Konkan Railway and Jammu & Kashmir power project.

Sources told Bloomberg TV India the Budget 2016 may mention the projects and quantum of investment by the NIIF so that funding the infrastructure projects can start from FY17.

“The finance ministry is considering 4 projects for NIIF funding. To start with, NIIF may finance 4 projects worth Rs 30,000 crore in FY17,” an official said on condition of anonymity.

The four projects that are being considered are Larsen & Toubro's Rs 14,000-crore Hyderabad metro rail, Konkan Railways Rs 10,000-crore expansion and electrification, Sterlite Technology’s Rs 3,500 crore J&K power transmission project and Essel's Rs 4,000 crore BOT Ring Road project in Delhi.

On December 29, NIIF’s Governing Council, chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, drew up the broad road map for the fund. The Governing Council, which also comprises Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das, Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal, SBI chairperson Arundhati Bhattacharya, Hemendra Kothari and TV Mohandas Pai, also scanned through possible projects that may be taken-up under the NIIF.

India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) is advising NIIF Ltd and IDBI Capital Market Services Ltd as advisor to NIIF Trustee Ltd initially. NIIF is already in discussions with the sovereign wealth funds and pension funds from countries including UAE, Singapore, Russia and UK. NIIF has been set up to push infrastructure development both greenfield and brownfield including stalled projects