Arun Jaitley seeks UAE sovereign wealth funds' investment for NIIF

Abu Dhabi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley Tuesday invited sovereign wealth funds of the UAE to invest in National Infrastructure and Investment Fund (NIIF), saying it will provide good return.

NIIF will attract good return on the investment made by the Sovereign Wealth Funds, the Finance Ministry said in a statement.

"It's a great opportunity for UAE Sovereign Wealth Funds and Pension Funds to make best use of it and make big investment in India," it said.

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) has shown keen interest in making investment on NIIF, it added.

The recently created Rs 20,000-crore NIIF will be professionally managed and mainly invest in commercially viable infrastructure projects.

The Finance Minister had a meeting with ADIA Managing Director Sheikh Hamed Bin Jayed Al Nahyan and Chairman, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, where investment in various sectors including infrastructure were discussed.

Sheikh Nahyan said his officials will be visiting India on the 19th of this month to discuss this matter further.

He also said that ADIA is interested in investing for establishing strategic oil reserves at Mangalore Port in Karnataka.

During the meeting, Jaitley also gave a detailed account of various initiatives taken by the present government in the last one-and-a-half year for enhancing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country.

He specifically mentioned about various FDI reforms taken recently by the government for attracting foreign investment in sectors like railways, defence, services and manufacturing, among others.

As a result, FDI has increased by 40 percent during the current year as compared to the previous year.