NIIF Completes Final Round Of Funding For Its $2.34 billion Master Fund; Canada’s PSP, USA’s DFC, Axis Bank To Invest $107 million

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) on Monday (Dec 21) announced that Canada’s Public Sector Pension Investment Board (PSP Investments), US federal government’s International Development Finance Corporation and and Indian lender Axis Bank have committed a total of $107 million to its $2.34bn Master fund. NIIF however did not disclose the size of the individual commitments nor the size of the stakes to be acquired

The commitments also marks the fifth and final Close of the Master Fund, NIIF said. The master fund is India’s largest domestic infrastructure equity fund.

The master fund invests in operating assets in core infrastructure sectors, primarily transportation and energy.

While Axis Bank was already invested with NIIF, Canada’s PSP Investments and DFC are the new entrants.

Other investors in the master fund include Government of India, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), AustralianSuper, CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, Temasek, HDFC Group, ICICI Bank and Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance

In addition to the $2.34bn raised, investors, which now include PSP Investments and the US development finance institution, will also have $3bn in co-investment rights

NIIF is India’s first sovereign wealth fund that was set up by the Government of India in February 2015. NIIF is anchored by the Government of India in collaboration with leading global and domestic institutional investors. The fund is vested with a mandate to invest in infrastructure assets and related businesses that are likely to benefit from the long-term growth trajectory of the Indian economy. It is currently channelising investments into India’s National Infrastructure Pipeline, an ambitious pipeline of over Rs 1 lakh crore worth of infrastructure projects,

In addition to its flagship Master Fund, it also manages the Fund of Funds and the Strategic Opportunities Fund. The former invests in funds focusing on climate infrastructure, housing and digital infrastructure, while the latter is a private equity vehicle, for which NIIFL is aiming to raise $2.1 billion, according to the statement. NIIFL’s assets under management across all three funds totals more than $4.4 billion.