Temasek invests $100 m in India's largest infra fund

Global investment firm Temasek, which has signed a pact to invest up to $400 million (Rs 2,750 cr) in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) of India, channelled the first $100 million (over Rs 687 crore) on Thursday.

Set up by the Centre, NIIF acts as an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled infrastructure projects.

Welcoming the investment, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg said, "This completes second close of NIIF, which is fast evolving into a major investment vehicle for building infrastructure assets."

Temasek now becomes the seventh investor in NIIF's Master Fund. The existing investors include the government, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), HDFC group, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Axis Bank. The centre holds 49% stake in NIIF, the rest is held by global and domestic investors.

"We are delighted to have Temasek as an investor in the NIIF Master Fund and as a shareholder of National Investment and Infrastructure, along with other institutional investors," NIIF's managing director and chief executive officer, Sujoy Bose, told reporters in Mumbai.