Union Cabinet approved MoU between India and UAE to mobilise long term investment into NIIF

The Union Cabinet on 23 March 2016 gave its ex-post facto approval for a MoU between India and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to mobilise long term investment into the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

The Memorandum of Understanding was signed on 11 February 2016 to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects in India.

Features of the MoU

• It seeks to mobilize funds to develop commercially viable projects including greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects.

• It will facilitate establishment of a transparent and high-level framework and collaboration platform for smooth flow of investments for this purpose.

• It will augment investments from UAE’s investment institutions in appropriate infrastructure projects and institutions in India including NIIF.

• A joint working group comprising of the concerned representatives of both parties will be set up to terms, principles and criteria jointly.

Comment

The MoU is a part of India’s efforts to mobiles funds for infrastructure development from the UAE.

Earlier, in August 2015, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit both the countries agreed to set up the UAE-India Infrastructure Investment Fund with the aim of reaching a target of 75 billion US dollars.

The fund will support investment in India’s plans for rapid expansion of next generation infrastructure, especially in railways, ports, roads, airports and industrial corridors and parks.

About National Investment and Infrastructure Fund

• The fund was approved by the Union Cabinet in July 2015 to fund new and rejuvenate stressed projects so that stalled investment cycle is revived in the country.

• It was established as a Category II Alternate Investment Funds (AIF) as per the regulations of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

• It has an initial corpus of 20000 crore rupees which can be leveraged by infrastructure companies including Indian Rail Finance Corporation (IRFC) and National Housing Bank (NHB).

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