- The National Highways Authority of India(NHAI) has signed an MoU with National Investment and Infrastructure Fund(NIIF) for funding highway projects.
- This agreement is expected to provide innovative financial models including for the Bharatmala Pariyojana.
- Bharatmala Pariyojana is an umbrella program for the highways sector that focuses on optimizing efficiency of freight and passenger movement across India.
- The objective of the program is optimal resource allocation for a holistic highway development and improvement initiative.
- NIIF was set up in 2015 as an investment vehicle for funding commercially viable greenfield, brownfield and stalled projects in the infrastructure sector.
- NIIF invests in areas such as energy, transportation, housing, water, waste management and other infrastructure-related sectors in India.
- NHAI is an autonomous agency of the Government of India.It was set up in 1988 and is responsible for the management of a network of over 50,000 km of National Highways out of 1,15,000 km in India.It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
