National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), India's sovereign-anchored alternative asset manager, said on Monday it has raised Rs 19,000 crore (nearly $2 billion) at the first close of its second infrastructure fund, more than 60% of the vehicle's Rs 30,000 crore (around $3.2 billion) target.
The first close of NIIF Infrastructure Fund II was anchored by the Government of India and drew commitments from sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurers and Indian financial institutions, the firm said in a statement.
Global investors in the fund include AustralianSuper, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and Singapore's Temasek. Domestic backers include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance, according to the statement.
Separately, CPPIB said it committed up to Rs 2,070 crore ($215 million) to NIIF Infrastructure Fund II. The pension fund had committed to NIIF’s first infrastructure fund, too, and invested directly in NIIF’s investment management platform.
NIIF said it expects to mobilise an additional Rs 9,000 crore (around $950 million) in co-investment capital alongside the fund, which would let investors participate directly in select transactions.
The fund will invest across energy, transport and digital infrastructure — sectors NIIF's first infrastructure fund also targeted — while expanding into urban infrastructure and electric mobility, the statement said.
Khaitan & Co advised NIIF in the fund closing.
NIIF's first infrastructure fund raised Rs 16,000 crore (around $2.34 billion at the time) and backed companies across renewables, transmission, distribution, battery storage, roads, ports and logistics, airports, data centres and smart metering. NIIF said it has completed or announced exits from investments in renewables, road assets and smart metering under that fund.
"Infrastructure Fund II reflects the continued confidence of our partners in India's infrastructure opportunity and in NIIF's ability to deploy long-term capital with discipline, sector expertise and strong governance," said Sanjiv Aggarwal, managing director and chief executive of NIIF. "NIIF is well positioned to connect global and domestic institutional capital with high-quality businesses."
Vinod Giri, managing partner for infrastructure at NIIF, said the new fund builds on the operating capabilities established through the first one. "We will continue to create infrastructure platforms at scale, take a hands-on approach to value creation and invest selectively across both established and emerging infrastructure sectors," he said, adding that the firm has "a strong pipeline already in place."
NIIF was set up in 2015 as India's first sovereign wealth fund vehicle, anchored by the government alongside global institutional investors; it reached the first close of its original infrastructure fund in 2017 with ADIA as a leading investor. It now manages more than $7 billion in equity capital commitments across four strategies — infrastructure, private markets, growth equity and climate investments — the firm said.
