NEW DELHI: The India Infrastructure Project Development Fund Scheme (IIPDF Scheme) has been announced by the Finance Ministry to provide financial support for project development costs associated with public-private partnership (PPP) projects.

It received notice on Thursday. The IIPDF Scheme, a central sector programme, will facilitate the creation of high-quality PPP projects by providing the required financial assistance to the project sponsoring authorities at the federal and state levels of government. According to a government statement, this aims to build a portfolio of bankable, sustainable PPP projects for realising the goal of modern infrastructure for the nation.

The funding under the IIPDF Scheme is in addition to the already in-place Viability Gap Funding Scheme, which was announced on December 7, 2020, and provides financial support to PPPs in infrastructure for projects that are fiscally justified but commercially unviable.

Providing the project sponsoring authority with top-notch counselling and consulting services is a crucial step in building quality PPP projects (PSAs). But acquiring such services is a time-consuming and challenging process that frequently causes delays in hiring the right transaction advisers (TAs) or poor structure of PPP projects.

The Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) had informed a panel of pre-qualified TAs on July 1, 2022, and produced a handbook for use of this panel in order to address these concerns.

By offering financial help to cover the costs of transaction advisers and consultants involved in the development of PPP projects, the IIPDF initiative will now give the PSAs in the Central and state governments the support they need.