India, Britain may create joint sub-fund under NIIF: Jaitley

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here on Monday said that India and Britain are exploring the possibility of creating a joint sub-fund under the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF).

"Officials from both India and UK are jointly exploring creation of an India-UK sub-fund under the NIIF umbrella. We look forward to implementation of this task expeditiously and positively in near future," Jaitley said during his meeting with visiting British Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox.

Jaitley said government accords high priority to investment in infrastructure, manufacturing and service sectors.

NIIF, India's first Rs 40,000 crore sovereign wealth fund, has been set up for attracting investments for infrastructure development in the country. Financial Times, London has adjudged NIIF as the most innovative structure in Asia Pacific under finance category.

Jaitley further said that the Union Cabinet has approved a new model text for the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), the new text of which has already been shared with the British government in April this year.

The Finance Minister also raised the issue of proposed Brexit implications on the Indian businesses and working professionals in Britain.

He also mentioned a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Britain depending on terms and conditions of its withdrawal arrangement from the EU.

Fox, who is currently on a three-day visit to New Delhi and Mumbai from August 28-30 to boost bilateral commercial ties, said: "UK is interested in forging deeper trade and investment arrangements with India."

--IANS

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