Infra needs up to $1 trillion investment in 2-3 years, says NIIF chief

The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) on Monday said the country needs an investment of up to $1 trillion in the infrastructure sector in the next two to three years.

"In the next two to three years, we need total investment of $800 billion to $1 trillion in infrastructure," its chief executive Sujoy Bose said at a finance ministry-organised seminar here.

He said resources are required both in tangible infrastructure assets as well as de-leveraging by companies saddled with high debt.

Bose said there was "hubris" in the years between fiscal year 2004-05 to 2011-12, which witnessed poor underwriting that hurt banks later through bad assets on books and companies getting leveraged a lot higher.

From FY13 onward, there has been a decline in the infrastructure sector investments, Bose said.

He exhorted the private sector to do more, saying that the government is leading the investments at present.

The role of the government should be restricted to creating opportunities for the private sector to invest in so that the public private partnerships (PPP) story can move ahead.

There are 1,300 PPP projects in various stages of development at present, he added.

He said the NIIF, which has raised 15-year money at present, is mulling to go for a 25-year money, given the long term gestation of the infra projects it invests in.