State Bank of India (SBI) and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) on Monday inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost the availability of capital for infrastructure projects.

The scope of the MoU includes equity investments, project funding, bond financing, renewable energy support and take-out finance for operating assets, according to the joint statement issued by SBI and NIIF.

The objective of this initiative is to aid in filling the gap at a time when the availability of equity and debt financing for infrastructure has moderated, it added.

Rajnish Kumar, Chairman, SBI, said the bank and NIIF have joined hands to provide a suite of financing solutions to the infrastructure sector. The initiative will address concerns relating to the availability of equity and long-term debt funding options to large scale projects, thereby stimulating the infrastructure development.

Sujoy Bose, Managing Director and CEO, NIIF, said the availability of post-construction take-out equity and debt financing for developers and builders of infrastructure projects will play an important role in the infrastructure development cycle in India. NIIF’s partnership with SBI will allow us to design large-scale, long-term financing solutions to address this need,” he said.

In addition to focusing on take-out financing, including through the IDF (Infrastructure Development Fund) route, the partnership will also explore new avenues of financing renewable energy projects.

During the last financial year, SBI — through its specialised Project Finance & Structuring Business Unit — extended financial assistance of about ₹51,000 crore to 47 infrastructure projects and for the current financial year the bank has a robust pipeline.

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