New Delhi, May 14 (IANS): The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is in talks with pension funds from Australia and Canada to raise capital.

While Sujay Bose, NIFF managing director and CEO, on Tuesday told IANS, "We are always talking to investors" but refused to divulge details on the possible investors, sources said the infrastructure investment vehicle was in serious discussions with pension funds from Australia and Canada.

Bose was at the Finance Ministry for updating the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) officials on the board meeting. While Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is chairman, DEA secretary Subhash Chandra Garg is a member on the NIIF board. The NIIF was set up in August 2015 by the DEA.

The government has committed to infuse Rs 20,000 crore, which is half of the total target corpus. While the government owns 49 per cent, domestic and international investors hold 51 per cent stake in NIIF.

The NIIF manages three funds -- Master Fund, Fund of Funds and Strategic Fund -- set up to make infrastructure investments in the country by raising capital from domestic and international institutional investors.

The NIIF talks to sovereign funds, pension and insurance companies for raising capital to invest in these funds.

Last September, Singapore sovereign fund Temasek joined Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), HDFC Group, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Life Insurance and Axis Bank as an investor in the Master Fund and as a shareholder in National Investment & Infrastructure Ltd, NIIF's investment management firm. Temasek committed to invest up to $400 million (Rs 2,750 crore) in the NIIF Master Fund.

THe ADIA, the sovereign wealth fund of the Gulf emirate, had agreed to invest $1 billion in NIIF's Master Fund in October 2018. Indian financial institutions have invested around Rs 500 crore in the Master Fund.

The NIIF Master Fund looks to raise capital to invest at the scale required for infrastructure projects in India. The Master Fund invests in core infrastructure sectors with a focus on transportation, energy and urban infrastructure.

Besides the Master Fund, the NIIF is also reaching out to investors for its Fund of Funds and Strategic Investment Fund. Earlier this year, Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank committed $200 million to the NIIF to spend on roads, housing and urban development.

At present, the NIIF has around $3.5 billion committed capital across the three funds. "We manage over $3 billion of capital commitments across three funds, each with its distinct investment strategy," the fund website said.