NIIF Reaches First Close on Second Infrastructure Fund

India's National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) announced on Monday that it has raised ₹19,000 crore (approximately $2 billion) in the first close of its second infrastructure fund, crossing 60% of its overall ₹30,000 crore target. The fund, named NIIF Infrastructure Fund II, is anchored by the Government of India and has secured commitments from a range of global and domestic institutional investors.

According to NIIF, global participants in the fund include AustralianSuper, CPP Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, and Temasek. Indian institutional investors include ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Life Insurance, and HDFC Life Insurance. NIIF has set a target to raise 2 billion for the fund.

Investment Strategy and Co-Investment Plans

The second fund is expected to invest across core infrastructure sectors including energy, transport, and digital infrastructure, while also expanding into emerging themes such as urban infrastructure and electric mobility. NIIF also expects to mobilise approximately ₹9,000 crore ($950 million) in co-investment capital alongside the fund, allowing institutional investors to participate in selected large transactions separately from their commitments to the fund.

Building on the First Fund's Success

The second fund builds on NIIF's first infrastructure fund, which raised ₹16,000 crore 34 billion) and invested across areas including renewable energy, transmission and distribution, battery storage, roads, ports and logistics, airports, data centres, and smart metering. NIIF said existing investors in the first fund have also backed the second vehicle, signalling continued institutional interest in India's infrastructure growth story.

Executive Quotes

Sanjiv Aggarwal, Managing Director and CEO of NIIF, said: "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." He added: "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."

Vinod Giri, Managing Partner, Infrastructure, at NIIF, said: "Our second infrastructure fund builds on the strong performance and operating capabilities established through our first fund. We will continue to create infrastructure platforms at scale, take a hands-on approach to value creation and invest selectively across both established and emerging infrastructure sectors." Giri added: "With a strong pipeline already in place, we see significant opportunities to deploy capital where NIIF can bring sector expertise, operating capability and execution at scale."

Background on NIIF

NIIF manages $7 billion in capital across investment strategies such as infrastructure, private markets, growth equity, and climate investments. The fund manager has announced and completed exits from investments across areas including renewables, road assets, and smart metering.