Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman asks NIIF to diversify financial sources

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday asked the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to leverage its sovereign-backed design to showcase its performance at the global stage.Chairing the 6th meeting of the Governing Council (GC), Sitharaman exhorted the NIIF to have a proactive approach to fundraising and the need to explore diversified sources of financing, the finance ministry said in a statement. The Rs 40,000-crore NIIF was set up in Dec 2015 as an institution to enhance infrastructure financing by investing in greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects.The quasi-sovereign wealth fund's assets under management (AUMs) have increased to more than Rs 30,000 crore.