Addressing the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund at Washington, D.C. a few days ago , India’s federal minister for finance Nirmala Sitharaman said, “As we envisage becoming a five trillion-dollar economy by 2025, our focus on creating world-class infrastructure has become even more resolute … we now are going to invest about $1.4 trillion in the next five years.”
Sitharaman outlined measures that the government has already taken, as well as others that it will take to enhance infrastructure investment.
Those that are in place are:
- Infrastructure Debt Funds
- Real Estate Investment Trusts
- Infrastructure Investment Trusts
- Application of Public Private Partnership models
- Asset Recycling model to modernize existing infrastructure
- National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
Those in the pipeline are:
- Laying down a framework for municipal bonds
- Developing brownfield assets as a separate asset class for infrastructure investment
- Adopting a Zero Budget Natural Farming model to promote organic farming
