UK India Infrastructure Financing Bridge (UKIIFB)

Why in News?

Recently, UK India Infrastructure Financing Bridge (UKIIFB) released its Year 1 UKIIFB Report.

UKIIFB

• Collaboration between – NITI Aayog and the City of London Corporation.
• Launched – On September 12, 2023, during the 12th economic dialogue, as part of the UK-India partnership to accelerate sustainable infrastructure development.
• Objectives – The initiative aims to enhance collaboration  and focuses on unlocking infrastructure investment.
  • leveraging the City of London’s expertise in major project structuring.
  • It seeks to secure long-term investments in critical infrastructure sectors across India.
• Key Achievements of Year 1 Report
• Development of a Project Assessment Framework clarifying investor priorities in highways and rapid transit sectors.
• Advancement of sustainability and resilience through the integration of climate adaptation and ESG frameworks in project designs.
• Enhancement of transparency and risk mitigation strategies to reduce investment uncertainties.
• Improved revenue protection and streamlined repatriation mechanisms to safeguard investor returns.
• Creation of cohesive project pipelines and fostering long-term relationships with UK infrastructure sponsors.
• Adoption of digital infrastructure to enhance governance and monitoring, boosting investor confidence.
• Highlighted – The importance of creating an investor-centric pipeline Market-tested through the new Project Assessment Framework.
• Unlocking international capital – Through developing standardised, globally benchmarked project preparation processes.
• Recommendations – To broaden India’s Detailed Project Report (DPR) to include full-lifecycle risk analysis, resilience, and value-for-money considerations,
  • Piloting stronger risk-sharing and revenue protection frameworks,
  • Enhancement of digital monitoring and transparency across the infrastructure ecosystem.
• Future focus – It  will expand sectoral coverage to include green hydrogen and offshore wind projects.
• Deepening engagement with investors and technical partners for India’s infrastructure transformation.
• Significance – The UKIIFB initiative supports transformative efforts by encouraging the flow of “patient capital” crucial for large-scale projects.

Patient capital is long-term investment in ventures like businesses or real estate that require an extended period to mature and generate profits, often forgoing quick returns.

Reference

PIB| UKIIFB Year 1 Report