Cabinet clears Bill on setting up DFI with capital infusion of Rs 20,000 cr

Initially the new institution would be government-owned, with its stake being cut gradually to 26%, says Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

The Cabinet has cleared a Bill to set up a government-owned development finance institution (DFI) with initial paid-up capital of Rs 20,000 crore so that it can leverage around Rs 3 trillion from the markets in a few years to provide long-term funds to infrastructure projects as well as for development needs of the country.

To put it in perspective, Rs 3 trillion constitutes slightly less than 3 per cent of the Rs 111 trillion to be spent on over 7,000 projects in the National Infrastructure Pipeline from 2019-20 to 2024-25.

Besides, the government will give Rs 5,000 crore as