The Maharashtra government has drawn up plans to set up a special purpose vehicle (SPV), Mahainfra, which will raise about ₹1 lakh crore for funding infrastructure projects.

State Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar in his annual budget speech said that the funds would be raised in the next five years for the infrastructure development. Given the constraints in raising such huge amounts, alternative methods, including tapping international funds, would be used, he said.

The Finance Minister said that the Mahainfra is proposed to act as a single window for aggregating the land held by various departments for securitisation, which are neither in use nor expected to be developed by the holding department for the next 10 years.

The land will be escrowed to the SPV for generation of funds. Securitization of the land will aid in raising funds through low-cost loans, bonds and investments from large investors with long-term horizons such as national or international pension and insurance funds, he said.

Mungantiwar announced that the SPV would be a need-based financing, fund-raising and advisory agency of the government. The government will also recruit a team of subject experts from various fields for increasing the efficiency of the institution. The government is also exploring the possibility of converting the Mahainfra into a non-banking finance company (NBFC) on the lines of Gujarat State Financial Services Ltd (GSFS), he said.

A senior Maharashtra government official said on the condition of anonymity that for the last couple of years, the idea of Mahainfra in various forms was being discussed in the government.

Securitisation of assets has already been carried out by Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, for the super expressway between Mumbai and Nagpur.

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