India’s $4.3 billion infrastructure fund makes its first road purchase

India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Ltd., backed by the federal government and others including Canadian pension firms and sovereign wealth funds, has purchased its first road assets.

NIIF, which has a corpus of $4.3 billion, acquired Essel Devanahalli Tollway in the southern state of Karnataka and Essel Dichpally Tollway in Telangana through its NIIF Master Fund, it said in a statement Monday. The projects will be managed by NIIF’s proprietary platform Athaang Infrastructure.

“Athaang will invest in strategic assets and develop a portfolio including mature operational assets, annuities/hybrid annuities, large size expressways and highways with greenfield and brownfield expansion requirements,” according to the statement.

NIIF counts the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Asian Development Bank and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority among its investors. Attracting foreign investment is crucial to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of spending $1.5 trillion on new roads, rail links and other infrastructure over the next five years as public finances deteriorate.