The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund has entered into a collaboration with Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) to launch a $600 million India-Japan Fund. The fund will have JBIC and central government as anchor investors. It will focus on investing in environmental sustainability and low carbon emission strategies and aims to play the role of being a 'partner of choice' to further enhance Japanese investments into India, a finance ministry statement said on Wednesday.
The announcement marks NIIF's first bilateral fund, with the Centre contributing 49 per cent of the target corpus and the remaining 51 per cent contributed by JBIC. The fund will be managed by NIIF Limited (NIIFL), and JBIC IG (a subsidiary of JBIC) will support NIIFL in promoting Japanese investments in India, it said.
"India-Japan Fund will focus on investing in environmental sustainability and low carbon emission strategies and aims to play the role of being a partner of choice to further enhance Japanese investments into India," the ministry said.
The setting up of the India-Japan Fund represents a key milestone in the strategic and economic partnership between the Japanese government and Indian government.
The Rs 40,000-crore NIIF was set up in December 2015 as an institution for enhancing infrastructure financing by investing in greenfield (new), brownfield (existing) and stalled projects. The fund was set up as Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). NIIF manages three funds with distinct strategies, Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Opportunities Fund.
"The setting up of India Japan Fund represents a key milestone in the strategic and economic partnership between the Government of Japan and Government of India," the ministry added.
ALSO READ | SEBI To Introduce Centralised Mechanism For Verification In Case Of Demise Of Investors