NIIF ready to provide last mile funding to stressed projects

Govt proposed a separate financial computer emergency response team

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) has said it is ready to provide last mile funding to stressed projects funded by banks.

To deal with the issue of cyber security, the government proposed a separate financial computer emergency response team, sources said.

The issue of funding from NIIF came up before the meeting of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and heads of public sector banks and financial institutions held on Monday.

NIIF has made it clear to the banks that it can provide last-mile funding to stressed projects so that they become operational and cash flow starts, sources said.

The meeting discussed readiness of NIIF to take various NPA accounts, which can be made operational very quickly.

Speaking with banks and IBA (Indian Banks' Association), the CEO of NIIF said it was a good opportunity to crystalise a number of ways in which banks and the NIIF can work together, a person who attended the meeting said.

They work in specific sectors particularly infrastructure but the mandate is wide enough to take up a number of stressed cases, sources said.

During the meeting, sources said, banks raised serious concerns over cyber security.

The issue assumes significance in the light of recent threat ransomware 'Wannacry' on across the sectors, including banking system.

The proposed mechanism should monitor cyber security issues on a 24-hour basis and all digital transactions should come under the ambit of proposed mechanism, a government official said.

The government proposes to constitute a cyber coordination centre in Delhi.

The meeting also reviewed the stressed situation in six sectors, including the telecom.

There are six identified large sectors where task forces and inter-ministerial groups have been set-up to work on resolving the crisis, sources said.

"So, we have worked out more refined institutional ways in which the banks can actually put their points across to the task forces to the specific sectors, telecommunications is one of them. In each of the sectors there is no option but to resolve as you go along," the official said.

NIIF was set up as the investment vehicle in 2015 and has the mandate to fund commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects.

With 49 per cent equity participation from the government, the remaining comes from the private sector.

While the Centre is committed to invest Rs 20,000 crore in the NIIF.

It has been incorporated under the Companies Act, 2013, authorised to act as an investment manager.

Last year, the government announced that it is in the process of setting up two sub-funds under the NIIF — one in clean energy fund, which will primarily focus on renewable energy, and another with focus on highway projects.

India and the UK have decided to set up a 500 million pound fund, with both governments together investing 240 million pound, to finance clean energy projects.

While India and the UK will be the anchor investors to the Green Growth Equity Fund, the remaining 260 million pound has to come in from private investors.