IRFC, IIFCL ink pact for financing railways infra

Ministry of Railways' miniratna firm Indian Railway Finance Corporation (IRFC) and India Infrastructure Finance Company (IIFCL) under the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday inked an agreement for financing railways infrastructure. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to strengthen cooperation in financing railway infrastructure projects with forward and backward linkages to the Indian Railways sector.

The MoU was signed by Amitabh Banerjee, Chairman and Managing Director, IRFC and Padmanabhan Raja Jaishankar, Managing Director, IIFCL in presence of senior officers of both the organizations here.

Under the MoU, IRFC and IIFCL will amplify each other's capabilities, enabling them to jointly leverage the financing opportunities for viable infrastructure projects.

"The partnership between IRFC and IIFCL is a step towards realising Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a USD 5 trillion economy by 2025. This symbiotic relationship between two premier financing institutions would play a pivotal role in providing impetus towards development of railway infrastructure in the country," Banerjee told reporters.

It will lead to enhanced customer experience and reduce logistics cost by facilitating state-of-the-art infrastructure, he said.

Jaishankar said IIFCL has been leading the infrastructure financing sector in the country and this MoU will enable both the parties to strengthen cooperation in co-financing of projects.