DFI goes back to the future: Will changes boost infra funding in India?

The Bill suggests that the government has learned from past mistake

The government has gone back to the drawing board with its new development finance institution (DFI), learning from recent experience to include control mechanisms and safeguards. India’s DFI model worked till the economic liberalisation of the early nineties forced them to fend for themselves. For such an institution to succeed now, the government must stand like a rock behind it and be patient, said experts and bankers who have spent their careers engaged in infrastructure funding.

The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, 2021, tabled by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday, seemed to be promising to