National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd (NIIF) is raising $100 million (approximately Rs 753.30 crore at current exchange rates) from multilateral lender Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its NIIF Fund of Funds.
Sujoy Bose, MD and CEO at NIIF, said in a statement that ADB's commitment to NIIF FoF was proof of its confidence in the Indian economy and its PE fund and managers.
“This investment also highlights NIIF’s approach to partner with high-quality institutional investors who are not just providers of capital but are also contributors of expertise during NIIF’s period of development,” Bose added.
With this investment, the Philippines-based bank joins the list of institutions that have committed to the NIIF, including the Government of India and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
The NIIF Fund of Funds (FoF), which was established in 2018, says it is a vehicle to provide India-focussed private equity investors with a go-to institutional investor.
It has so far made commitments of over Rs 2,600 crore (around $350 million) to three funds, including ones concentrating on sectors such as green energy and climate, middle-income and affordable housing, and mid-market growth companies operating in diversified sectors.
The managers of these funds have also raised a total of $1.1 billion, apart from NIIF’s investments.
The investment announcement comes at a critical time for India, as the already slumped economic growth is feared to be taking a heavy hit due to coronavirus outbreak.
Separately, ADB vice-president for private sector and public-private partnerships Diwakar Gupta said the investment by the development finance institution would help NIIF in moving institutional capital into domestic PE funds, leading to the higher availability of long-term growth financing for private sector companies.
The central government set up the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund in 2016 as part of its efforts to accelerate private and foreign investment into the country’s infra segments.
Other investors in NIIF include domestic banks such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Axis Bank. Domestic insurance companies and foreign wealth and pension funds including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Canada’s Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan are also investors.
In December last year, the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) said it would invest up to $600 million (Rs 4,300 crore) through the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) Master Fund.
In August, the NIIF received funding commitments of up to $1 billion (around Rs 7,066 crore) each from AustralianSuper, the nation’s largest superannuation fund, and Ontario Teachers’.
