NIIF appoints Rajiv Dhar as interim CEO

National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF), a quasi-sovereign wealth fund, on Thursday said its board has appointed Rajiv Dhar as interim managing director and CEO. The appointment is effective May 11, NIIF said in a statement. The planned succession follows Sujoy Bose’s request to relieve him from his current responsibilities as MD and CEO, it said. Dhar, executive director and chief operating officer, has been part of NIIF since 2017. The government had set up the Rs 40,000-crore NIIF in December 2016 as an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects. It was envisioned as a mother fund with several sectoral feeder funds. Government capital in NIIF covers three funds — Master Fund, Fund of Funds, and Strategic Opportunities Fund (together referred to as NIIF) — all managed by the same investment manager (NIIF Limited). The corpus of NIIF is proposed to be Rs 40,000 crore wherein the government intends to invest 49 per cent. It will raise third-party capital for the remaining Rs 20,000 crore from long-term international investors, such as sovereign wealth funds, insurance and pension funds, and endowments.