Kerala to tap markets for infra development funds: Thomas Issac

Finance minister Thomas Issac has decided to lead from the front and will raise money now through bonds by entering the capital market Issac said he had taken upon himself the task to revamp the structure of the KIIFB, which would now act as the agency to raise funds

The CPM-led government in Kerala has decided to raise Rs 25,000 crore from the market to fund major infrastructure projects before the close of current fiscal.

State finance minister Thomas Issac has decided to lead from the front and will raise money now through bonds by entering the capital market and adopting other non-conventional ways to raise funds.

Speaking to the media on Saturday, on the sidelines of a national seminar conducted by the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), Issac said he had taken upon himself the task to revamp the structure of the board, which would now act as the agency to raise funds from the market to meet the infrastructure requirements.

"For any state to progress, the requisite infrastructure has to be there. We the Left have a clear-cut manifesto, which speaks on what we will be doing. This is in no way going to affect our ideology at all, as we are very clear on what we are doing, and there is no shift from what we have been saying," IANS quoted Issac as saying.

Even though the KIIFB came into existence in 1999 under the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Act 1999 to manage the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board, it was only last year under Issac that a comprehensive modification of the Act was done through an amendment ordinance in August 2016, thus widening its scope.