IIFCL Bats For Private Investment In Railways, New Law For Infrastructure Financing

The Indian Infrastructure Finance Co., a 100% government-owned undertaking, is batting for private investments in Indian Railways, which has so far remained unprivatised, in contrast to aviation.

Speaking at IIFCL's 20th anniversary, Managing Director PR Jaishankar said it was "high time" that privatisation in Indian Railways took place.

"The time has come for private investment in Railways. So far, the government has been the major investor in infrastructure in India. The next scale of investment should come from private sector. The animal spirits in private sector must rise up to expectations," he told NDTV Profit.

He also emphasised on the need for a separate law on infrastructure financing. "Our ask stems from a World Bank report, that mentions that about 56% of economies have laws specific to infrastructure. We believe that such laws will help with investor confidence. We need a better system, supported by infra-specific laws."

He added that IIFCL is on track to achieve Rs 1 lakh-crore in disbursals in the next three years, a target set by Nagaraju Maddirala, Secretary at the Department of Financial Services.

"IIFCL, NABFID, banks should move away from assets once they're revenue generating. IIFCL must come up with innovative products, better governance structure and new financing. Infrastructure finance companies and banks need to pool to finance large-scale products," Maddirala had said, adding that there is a need to guard against the risk of fraud, corruption in national assets.

IIFCL will continue to focus on its core infrastructure business, and also focus on new areas like sustainable infrastructure, EV charging and battery swapping projects, Jaishankar said.

He added that the company's plans to list on the bourses are still under examination. The company had earlier planned for an IPO by fiscal 2025. "The plan is still under examination...We will come back soon on more on that," he said.