Recasting India's infra ambitions as NIP, NMP near end of their tenure

The National Infrastructure Pipeline and the National Monetisation Pipeline have both reached the end of their tenure and need revitalisation

In many ways, the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) mimics the five-year planning process of the erstwhile Planning Commission, in that it provides a five-year sector-wise investment plan for the country.

 

The NIP was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Independence Day speech in August 2019. To develop the NIP, a high-level task force was constituted under the chairmanship of the secretary, Department of Economic Affairs (DEA). The task force’s final report for the financial years 2021-25 was released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on April 29, 2020, with a projected infrastructure investment of ₹111 trillion for the five-year period.

 

With the NIP set to wrap up in March 2025, the time has come to take stock and reshape it for the next five years. The NIP includes projects of more than ₹100 crore each, covering greenfield and brownfield investments. A review of the NIP’s performance reveals both noteworthy achievements and significant sectoral deviations from initial plans. The table summarises the key achievements.

 

The planned investment envisioned at the start of NIP, and the current method of data presentation and updating is difficult to correlate. The India Investment Grid Portal, which tracks  NIP’s progress, updates in real time. The planned infrastructure investments now stand at ₹168.93 trillion, compared to the original plan of ₹111 trillion.

 

But it is the data on “achievement” that is initially rather startling. It shows investment concluded on the ground (as of March 11, 2025) of ₹31.1 trillion, i.e. a 28 per cent achievement of the original planned investment of ₹111 trillion. To be fair, a slew of projects are still under implementation (61 per cent), which stand at ₹83.54 trillion. Considering that infrastructure projects take over four years to conceive, design, and implement, it would be fair to include the “incomplete projects” as reflecting capex on the ground. The achievement would then be ₹31.1 trillion plus ₹83.54 trillion, totalling ₹115 trillion.

 

Well, that then is a 103 per cent achievement! This ₹115 trillion also ties-in pretty well with India’s current annual estimated run-rate of ₹20 trillion of infrastructure investments across four segments — Centre, states, extra-budgetary resources (PSUs), and the private sector.

 

With the public sector accounting for nearly 80 per cent of infrastructure investment, a greater push to mobilise private financing emerged as a clear necessity. Thus, the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) was launched in early 2021. This “jugalbandhi” with NIP aimed to generate ₹6 trillion in four years by wholly or partially offloading state-owned brownfield infrastructure assets to the private sector.

 

According to the Economic Survey 2024-25, the results of the NMP have been encouraging. The government has, to date, raised ₹3.86 trillion, with roads, power, coal, and mining being the biggest contributors. For FY25, the government has set a target of further mobilising ₹1.91 trillion. The NITI Aayog is finalising the next five-year infrastructure monetisation roadmap, expected to be released around August 2025. In her Budget Speech in February, the Finance Minister indicated that ₹10 trillion worth of assets would be monetised in the next version of the NMP, covering five years.

 

For a refreshed NIP — it is expected that newer aspirations will find a place. Major port development plans are underway — from Galathea Bay in the Andamans to Vadhavan in Maharashtra. So is the development of large new airports. A burst of investments in nuclear energy is on the cards, with an ambitious target of achieving 100 Gw of nuclear capacity. While highways, solar and wind investments will continue to be at high levels, they will draw in further bursts of investments in pump storage projects and commensurate transmission and distribution networks. Moreover, social infrastructure (health care, education, housing), digital infra and agri investments are expected to feature prominently in the next version of NIP.

 

Thus, India once again stands at an inflection point in its infrastructure planning journey, with a refreshed NIP and NMP expected to set out the game plan. 

 

The author is an infrastructure expert. He is also the founder & managing trustee of The Infravision Foundation. (Research inputs by Vrinda Singh)