Govt to raise $15 billion for India’s infrastructure plan

The government is all set to raise $15 billion or Rs 1 lakh crore that will be spent over five years for the infrastructure sector. In a recently held press conference, Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister, Government of India told TrafficinfraTech that the government’s commitment towards attracting investment and public spending is out. The government is allocating nearly Rs 22,000 crore ($3 billion) for two infrastructure funding agencies – National Infrastructure Investment and IIFCL. “With the allocated funds, these two agencies will leverage the primary market at least 6-7 times or 8-9 times if the investors are generous, which will help them to raise funds to Rs 1 lakh crore,” she added.

However, Sitharaman assured the investors that the government is also happy to front-load the funds whenever necessary to make this country a $5 trillion economy. “We have closely worked with state governments, private investors & private project promoters and shortlisted over 6,400 projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline,” she said. According to the Finance Minister, NIP has already created a buzz amongst foreign investors, technology players who are eying investment in India’s infrastructure growth. “We wholeheartedly invite them to take advantage of India’s friendly FDI regime. Lastly, we have given special concessions for sovereign funds to invest in India’s infrastructure growth story with particular lock-in period till 2024,” she said.