What is the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)?

About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)

• NIIF is a fund manager that invests in infrastructure and related sectors in India.
• It is India’s first-ever sovereign wealth fund (SWF), which was set up in 2015.
• An institution anchored by the Government of India, NIIF is a collaborative investment platform for international and Indian investors with a mandate to invest equity capital in domestic infrastructure.
• NIIF invests across asset classes such as infrastructure, private equity, and other diversified sectors in India, with the objective of generating attractive risk-adjusted returns for its investors.
• It invests in greenfield (new), brownfield (existing), and stalled projects.
• NIIF is 49% owned by the Indian government and has more than $4.9 billion in assets under management, making it the country’s biggest infrastructure fund.
• NIIF benefits from its association with the Government yet is independent in its investment decisions.
• It is majority-owned by institutional investors and managed professionally by a team with experience in investments and infrastructure.
• The funds are registered as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF)with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and are currently raising capital from domestic and international institutional investors.
• NIIF manages capital invested currently through four funds:
  • NIIF Master Fund: This fund primarily invests in infra-related projects such as roads, ports, airports, and power. It is the largest infrastructure fund in India. NIIF Private Markets Fund: Invests in funds managed by third-party managers in infrastructure and associated sectors.
  • NIIF Strategic Opportunities Fund: It invests and develops large-scale businesses and greenfield projects that are of strategic importance to the country.
  • India-Japan
• Fund: NIIF’s first bilateral fund invests in environment preservation in India.
• It also seeks to enable opportunities for collaboration between Indian and Japanese companies in India.

The Fund has a target corpus of US$600 million, with the Government of India contributing 49% and the remaining 51% contributed by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, a policy-based financial institution wholly owned by the Government of Japan.

Q1: What is an Alternative Investment Fund (AIF)?

AIF means any Indian investment vehicle that collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing in accordance with a defined investment policy. Alternative investment funds are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). However, AIF Funds are not subject to SEBI’s (Mutual Funds) Regulations, 1996, SEBI’s (Collective Investment Schemes) Regulations, 1999, or any other fund management regulations. AIF investment strategies are tailored to suit the needs of high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and institutional investors.

Source: NIIF invests $200 million in iBUS for expansion of digital infrastructure