Sujoy Bose likely to be NIIF chief executive officer

Bose is currently global co-head of infrastructure and natural resources at International Finance Corporation

The government is likely to appoint International Finance Corporation official Sujoy Bose as the first chief executive officer (CEO) of the Rs 40,000-crore National Investment and Infrastructure Fund. The official announcement is expected any time.

Bose is currently global co-head of infrastructure and natural resources at IFC.

It had been reported that he and Luis Miranda, an adviser at Morgan Stanley Investment Management and a former chief CEO of IDFC Private Equity, were in contention for the post.

Sources said Bose’s name seems to have been approved by the search-cum-selection committee under the chairmanship of economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das.

In December, the government had set up the NIIF as an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable projects, including stalled ones. While the Centre has invested Rs 20,000 crore, the rest is to come from domestic or foreign investors, who can invest in the umbrella fund or smaller sector or project-specific funds within it.

The government’s stake in the entity is not to exceed 49 per cent. It is in talks with various foreign funds to invest in NIIF or the smaller sector or project-focused funds in it.

India and the United Arab Emirates signed a pact to mobilise up to $75 billion long-term investment in NIIF in February during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to that country.

India Infrastructure Finance Co has been appointed an investment adviser to NIIF and IDBI Capital Market Services as an adviser to NIIF Trustee Ltd, initially for six months and a year, respectively.