Debasish Panda, BFSI News, ET BFSI

State-run India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited (IIFCL) may be merged with the proposed new development finance institution (DFI) that the government is planning to set up to push the projects under the National Infrastructure pipeline, a top official said on Tuesday.

“IIFCL maybe considered for a quick start if it could be subsumed in this new financial institution because they already have some domain expertise and they have some manpower who are already trained and experienced in this field. So that could be a way of looking at it,” financial services secretary Debasish Panda told reporters at a post-Budget interaction. He said the planned National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) will play the anchor for the national infrastructure pipeline.

In her Budget speech on Monday, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she will introduce a bill to set up a DFI. “I have provided a sum of Rs 20,000 crore to capitalise this institution. The ambition is to have a lending portfolio of at least Rs 5 lakh crore for this DFI in three years time,” the FM said in her speech.

Panda said the proposed DFI will play a key developmental role apart from financing the projects.