NIIF raises $ 2 billion, 60% of Infra Fund II target, amid strong interest from global institutional investors

India's sovereign-anchored alternative asset manager National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIF) has announced the first close of NIIF Infrastructure Fund II at Rs 19,000 crore (~ $ 2 billion). The milestone represents over 60% of the Fund’s Rs 30,000 crore (~ $ 3.2 billion) target size and reflects strong institutional investor confidence in India’s long-term infrastructure opportunity and NIIF’s investment strategy.

The first closure is anchored by the Central government and supported by a high-quality investor base spanning sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies and leading Indian financial institutions. Global institutional investors that have participated in the Fund include AustralianSuper, Canada’s CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Temasek. Leading Indian institutions including ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Life Insurance and HDFC Life Insurance are also among the investors.

The Fund has received strong support from existing investors in NIIF’s first infrastructure fund, reflecting continued confidence in NIIF’s investment strategy, governance standards, execution capabilities and track record of building large-scale infrastructure businesses.

Alongside the Fund, NIIF expects to mobilise approximately Rs 9,000 crore (~ $ 950 million) in co-investment capital, enabling investors to participate at scale in select transactions and further deepening NIIF’s role as a partner of choice for institutional capital seeking exposure to Indian infrastructure.

 “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. India’s infrastructure build-out is creating opportunities at scale, and NIIF is well positioned to connect global and domestic institutional capital with high-quality businesses. We are grateful to the Government of India, our anchor investor, and to our global and Indian partners for their continued trust,” said Sanjiv Aggarwal, Managing Director & CEO, NIIF.

 NIIF’s infrastructure investment strategy combines local origination, sector expertise, active governance, co-investment access and long-term asset management through a single institutional relationship. Infrastructure Fund II will continue to invest across core infrastructure sectors including energy, transport and digital infrastructure, while expanding into emerging themes such as urban infrastructure and electric mobility.

 NIIF’s first infrastructure fund, which raised Rs 16,000 crore (~ $ 2.34 billion) and has invested across renewables, transmission, distribution, battery storage, roads, ports and logistics, airports, data centres and smart metering.