Why it is in news?

• The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority  became the first institutional investor in the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’s Master Fund, with an investment of $1 billion. 

‘A milestone’

• Six domestic institutional investors, including HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company Limited, HDFC Asset Management Company Limited, Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited, ICICI Bank Limited, Kotak Mahindra Old Mutual Life Insurance Limited and Axis Bank Limited, will also join the NIIF Master Fund.
• This is a significant milestone in the operationalisation of NIIF.
• This agreement paves the way for creating significant economic impact through investment in commercially viable infrastructure development projects.

NIIF

• National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a fund created by the Government of India for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country.
• This is different from the National Investment Fund.
• NIIF was proposed to be set up as a Trust, to raise debt to invest in the equity of infrastructure finance companies such as Indian Rail Finance Corporation (IRFC) and National Housing Bank (NHB).
• The idea is that these infrastructure finance companies can then leverage this extra equity, manifold. In that sense, NIIF is a banker of the banker of the banker.