This refers to Subir Gokarn's column "The NIF option" (Muddy Waters, April 21). It is true that infrastructure funding from financial institutions and capital markets has dried up, with no hope of revival in near future. Similarly, the public-private partnership model has been facing new hurdles one after the other. In this scenario, the National Investment Fund (NIF) option, as explained in the column, appears as a panacea for building much-needed national infrastructure. The concept of synchronised investments also makes sense if we have to see the fruits of infrastructure projects soon. With the wisdom of hindsight, we can say that destroying development financial institutions such as IDBI and ICICI was almost suicidal for the economy. And now, the only respected infrastructure financing institution - IDFC - is also being converted into a commercial bank. The NIF may be offered by the author as a fund, but it actually sounds like an idea of an infrastructure financial institution.
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Y P Issar Karnal
Letters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:
The Editor, Business Standard
Nehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
New Delhi 110 002
Fax: (011) 23720201
E-mail: letters@bsmail.in
All letters must have a postal address and telephone number