The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development is set to establish a self-regulatory organisation for infrastructure financiers within a month, signalling a pivotal expansion in its oversight and support for India’s infrastructure sector.
National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development has cleared the approvals needed to set up a self-regulatory organisation for infrastructure financiers and expects the new body to become operational within about a month, managing director Rajkiran Rai G. said. Rai said the bank is now working through the formal steps required to register the entity as a company. “We got all the approvals now. So now, actually, because SRO is again a company, there are processes involved. We are on it,” he said.
The move follows an ETBFSI report last month that NaBFID was preparing to create such a body for project financiers. The idea emerged from talks on giving infrastructure lenders a common platform to raise sector-wide concerns with regulators and government ministries, while also helping to shape standards for a market that is still evolving.
NaBFID has been expanding its role well beyond plain-vanilla lending. In an interview with Moneycontrol, Rai described the institution as a leading backer of large toll roads and renewable energy projects and said it had become the preferred lender for several marquee infrastructure deals. He also said the bank is looking to diversify into equity financing and blended debt, starting with a $500 million fund aimed at areas such as urban infrastructure, waste management and smaller healthcare projects. Separately, Rai has said NaBFID is helping municipal corporations, including in tier-II cities, tap capital markets for projects such as water supply, sewage treatment and urban transport.
The development also fits into NaBFID’s wider push to widen the pool of infrastructure capital. The bank has already said it is not seeking equity investment because it is adequately capitalised and has plans to borrow ₹53,000 crore through domestic bonds in the current financial year. Beyond domestic fundraising, NaBFID has also moved to strengthen its climate-finance role: the Asian Development Bank announced a letter of intent with the lender to support climate resilience and broader infrastructure financing, while NaBFID earlier received government approval to act as an accredited agency for the Green Climate Fund.
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