NIIF CEO will be appointed in a few weeks: Sinha

8-10 candidates from 82 CVs shortlisted, govt is also taking steps to de-bottleneck and get 1,300 PPP projects moving

The government has received more than 80 applications for the post of CEO of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and will take a decision on the appointment within a few weeks, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said on Saturday.

“We have received 82 very high-quality CVs. We have shortlisted about 8-10 people. We will be calling them for interview and we hope to complete the whole process within the next few weeks,” Sinha said at the Advancing Asia summit in New Delhi. The summit is being jointly organised by the International Monetary Fund and the finance ministry.

In December, the government had set up the Rs 40,000 crore National Investment and Infrastructure fund (NIIF), an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects.

While the centre will invest Rs 20,000 crore in NIIF, the remaining is to come from private domestic and foreign investors who can invest in the umbrella fund or smaller sector or project-specific funds within it.

The Finance Ministry in October had constituted a search- cum-selection Committee under Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das for selecting a CEO for the Investment Management Company under the NIIF.
       
Sinha spoke on the challenges facing the infrastructure sector in India and the government’s priorities in terms of public spending for three sectors, namely irrigation, roads and railways.

Sinha said that despite a tight fiscal deficit target of 3.5 per cent India has stepped up public expenditure for next fiscal.

He also touched upon the real-world implementation problems which were unique to India.

“There are areas where the threats of left-wing extremism or the coal mafia is constant,” Sinha said giving the example of his home state of Jharkhand. “In such places, the private contractors don't want to take up contracts, so we have got the government contractors to take them up.”

Sinha said that  government had ensured innovative financing approaches by bringing in NIIF, allowing companies to issue Masala Bonds and also taking steps to deepen the bond market. He said that the centre is also taking steps to de-bottleneck and get some 1,300 public-private partnership projects moving.