His departure, however, comes at a time when at least two to three of its major shareholders—high-profile and strategic sovereign funds and long-time only investors—are unhappy with the way India’s quasi-sovereign wealth fund is being run. , expressed their displeasure over it, the people mentioned above added.
NIIF, India’s quasi sovereign wealth fund, currently has $4.3 billion in assets under management master fundA Fund of Funds and a Strategic Opportunity Fund.
Bose, a former Citi banker, joined NIIF from the Washington-based International Finance Corporation, the private sector lending arm. world Bankwhere he was Director and Global Co-Head of Infrastructure and Natural Resources.
A year after the NIIF was conceived and announced in the 2015 Union Budget, a search-cum-selection committee headed by the then Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das was constituted for the selection of the CEO of NIIF, for infrastructure funding. was. Bose was cherry-picked from that process.
It is registered with SEBI.
“This has been going on for some time now. His family is in Washington and for two years he is stuck in India. Also, recently he (Bose) along with some members of the Governing Council nominated by the government There has also been controversy,” said an official.
The mail to Finance Ministry spokesperson Bose did not elicit any response till press time.
Sources reveal that the search for a successor is on.
Over the years, NIIF has managed to pool many top investors, both domestic and foreign, including Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Temasek, CPP Investments, Ontario Teachers Pension Fund, PSP Investments, Asian Infrastructure Development Bank, Australian Super , US International. DSP, Kotak Mahindra, state Bank of India, HDFC group and ICICI Bank among others as Limited Partners (LPs).
However, industry observers say its performance has been the best. Its portfolio includes a JV platform for logistics with Dubai-based DP World, Ayana Renewables and Manipal Hospitals.
In Mrch 2019, it concluded its first controlling transaction through its Strategic Opportunities Fund vehicle IDFC Infrastructure Finance Limited, an NBFC-IDF (Infrastructure Debt Fund) and renamed as NIIF-IFL. Over the years, it has built several platforms to finance roads and infrastructure.
In the last three years, the loan book of NIIF Infrastructure Finance has grown from Rs 4,000 crore to Rs 14,201 crore as on March 31, 2022, registering a growth of 67% over a year ago.
The loan book is well diversified in renewable energy, transportation and logistics, power transmission and other infrastructure sectors. The growth in the loan book was largely driven by the solar renewable segment over the years, while the share of the road segment has declined gradually, said a recent report. execution report good.
Such disinterested performance, as well as passive participation of the government, with a minority 49% economic interest, along the future course, have many high-profile supporters already expressing their doubts. Some of these investors in North America and the Middle East are major financial partners in the country, with significant investments already in the ground either as limited partners of other funds or directly.
For example, a consortium of NIIF-ADIA-PSP Investments was competing to buy Mumbai International Airport, but lost to Adani in a corporate coup. ADIA wrote several letters to the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, which ET also reported, rejecting their proposal along the way. The government did not want to get involved in a commercial dispute between various corporate entities.
“The whole idea was to put the government at 49% to stay out of the CVC audit and get the best professional talent, but it proved counter-productive too,” said an official working with the fund. “Unlike many other sovereign funds, where government funds are at stake, here the government was inactive yet it played an important role in the governing council. Two senior secretaries of the Ministry of Finance were the members of the Council and are also represented by the Board.