By TIOL News Service

NEW DELHI, MAY 22, 2016: INFRASTRUCTURE sector and the Pension Fund industry can match each other's needs and requirements, said Mr Hemant G Contractor, Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory & Development Authority (PFRDA) at the CII Banking & Finance Summit on ‘Building India through a Stronger Financial Sector' here on Friday. The infrastructure sector requires large volume and long term funds and the Pension fund industry has the similar funds available for investment, hence there has been a strong growth of the pension fund's portfolio in the infrastructure sector, he added.

Infact, the pension fund industry contribution has been round 17-19 per cent annually and he was hopeful that this would increase steadily.  As a regulating authority, PFRDA has laid down the guidelines for Indian pension funds to invest in listed funds and also venture into new bond instruments which will further increase the exposure to the infrastructure sector, added Mr Contractor.

Pointing out the non-availability of enough money in the system, Mr S B Nayar, Chairman & Managing Director, India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd (IIFCL) suggested that the infrastructure finance companies require capitalisation as well as funding from multilateral institutions. Sops like income tax benefit should be given to the investors. Overseas money will only flow once the construction of the projects starts, explained Mr Nayar.