NIIF plans to raise at least Rs 20,000 crore for infra investment trust

Workers at Mumbai Costal Road's construction site in Haji Ali area of Mumbai, India, on Wednesday, April 5, 2023. The city is counting on the Aqua Line metro, scheduled to open later this year, to connect island business districts to its northern suburbs while alleviating traffic. Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/Bloomberg

India’s National Investment & Infrastructure Fund is in talks to raise at least 20 billion rupees ($244 million) for an infrastructure investment trust, according to people familiar with the matter.

The vehicle would include some assets from Athaang Infrastructure, which operates toll roads, according to one of the people, who declined to be identified because the information is private. The investment will be a private placement and the fund raising should take place by September, another person said.

NIIF is India’s first major attempt to develop a capital-raising structure on home soil, to tackle a shortfall in infrastructure spending. Investors include Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Singapore’s Temasek Holdings Pte, according to its website.

Infrastructure investment trusts, known as InvIT for short, are like mutual funds and allow a pooling of assets for financing projects and can help make up the shortfall in investment.

A World Bank report last year estimated the country needs to spend $840 billion over the next 15 years on urban infrastructure.

NIIF did not respond to Bloomberg’s emails and messages requesting comment. Athaang did not respond to an emailed request.