National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF)

Question 1

What is it?

Answer 1

for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country.

Founded : February 2015
NIIF Headquarters : Mumbai, India
Government Ministry : Ministry of Finance

Question 2

Objective?

Answer 2

to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects.

Question 3

Functions?

Answer 3

Fund raising through suitable instruments including off-shore credit enhanced bonds, and attracting anchor investors to participate as partners in NIIF;
[FUNDRAISING INCLUDING OFFSHORE INVESTMENTS]

Servicing of the investors of NIIF.

Considering and approving candidate companies/institutions/ projects (including state entities) for investments and periodic monitoring of investments.
[APPROVING CANDIDATES FOR INVESTMENTS]

Investing in the corpus created by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) for investing in private equity.

Preparing a shelf of infrastructure projects and providing advisory service
[GIVING ADVICE]

Question 4

Mandate?

Answer 4

investing in areas such as energy, transportation, housing, water, waste management and other infrastructure-related sectors in India.

Question 5

How many funds are managed by NIIF currently?What are they?

Answer 5

• 3
• The funds are registered as Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

The three funds are:

Master Fund: operating assets in the core infrastructure sectors such as roads, ports, airports, power etc.

Fund of Funds: Managed by fund managers who have good track records in infrastructure and associated sectors in India. Some of the sectors of focus include Green Infrastructure, Mid-Income &Affordable Housing, Infrastructure services and allied sectors.

Strategic Investment Fund: Is registered as an Alternative Investment Fund II under SEBI in India. The objective is to invest largely in equity and equity-linked instruments. It will focus on green field and brown field investments in the core infrastructure sectors.

Question 6

What is Alternative Investment Fund?

Answer 6

-AIF means any fund established in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle which collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investing it in accordance with a defined investment policy for the benefit of its investors.
[ANY FUND WHICH IS PRIVATELY POOLED INVESTMENT]

• Private equity or venture capital, hedge funds, real property, commodities, and tangible assets are all examples of alternative investments.
• regulated by the SEBI.

Question 7

What are the categories of AIF?

Answer 7

Category I AIFs: These generally invest in start-ups or early stage ventures which the government or regulators consider as socially or economically desirable.
e.g. venture capital funds, infrastructure funds.
[SOCIALLY OR ECONOMICALLY DESIRABLE]

Category II AIFs: These are AIFs which do not fall in Category I and III and which do not undertake leverage or borrowing other than to meet day-to-day operational requirements and as permitted in the SEBI (Alternative Investment Funds) Regulations, 2012.
e.g. real estate funds, private equity funds.

Categories III AIFs: AIFs which employ diverse or complex trading strategies and may employ leverage including through investment in listed or unlisted derivatives.
e.g. hedge funds, private investment in Public Equity Funds.
[HAS COMPLEX TRADING PRACTICES]