Government preparing norms for credit enhancement fund to bolster infra bonds ratings

The government is holding consultations with RBI to prepare guidelines for a fund that is being proposed to be set up to provide guarantees to lower-rated bonds issued by infrastructure companies and bolster their ratings. The guidelines will be finalised shortly and the proposed special purpose vehicle (SPV) will commence operations soon. In-principle approvals have already been received from all the participants. The proposed fund is likely to be called National Infrastructure Credit Enhancement. The SPV will be set up by state-run India Infrastructure Finance Company Limited, and the other contributors are the Life Insurance Corporation of India, the General Insurance Corporation and the State Bank of India. The Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Punjab National Bank will also participate in the fund. The SPV will initially provide support to bonds of only those projects which have commenced operations.