Govt looks to tweak investment norms for NIIF
The Dollar Business Bureau
The government looks to modify the investment norms for the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to enable investors to co-invest in sovereign wealth fund as well as in other individual projects.
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Thursday said the norms will be tweaked in line with the existing investment framework, based on suggestions from both domestic and overseas investors.
“Earlier we were considering NIIF to be the mother fund under which there would be several sub-funds. Now after interaction with investors from within and abroad we realised that there is equal amount of interest, perhaps greater interest to co-invest in individual projects," Das said.
The secretary said a good monsoon, as expected this year, clearance of GST bill and several initiatives taken by the government would propel India’s GDP growth rate to 8%.
"With a good monsoon which we expect this year, with the passage of GST, which also the government is very confident will happen in the monsoon session of the parliament and the cumulative result of all reform measures being taken, we are looking at 8% growth," he said.
Das hoped the growth in agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors that were achieved during the last fiscal of 2015-16 – India’s economy cloaked a 7.9% growth rate during the quarter – would continue to improve in the financial year of 2016-17 as well.
“A good monsoon will add to a good agriculture and will also create a lot of rural demand,” he said.
The Secretary emphasised that the government would continue to take policy initiatives and reform measures to boost investments in the above sectors.
Das also hoped that retail inflation will remain at 5% this fiscal, as projected by the RBI in its 2nd policy meeting this week, and help India maintain lower interest rates, logistics costs and transaction costs.
to success.