THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state government's ambitious Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) project has got its first investor in the form of the National Bank for AgriCulture and Rural Development (Nabard).

Nabard has agreed to fund the road projects proposed through the board.The confirmation in this regard was received by the state government last week.

The government had sought a loan of Rs 5,000 crore aimed mainly at implementing road projects that occupy the major chunk of infrastructure projects in the pipeline to be financed by KIIFB.

Responding to the request, Nabard has agreed to take up the projects forwarded by the state, without fixing a cap on how much it would lend.

Additional chief secretary (finance) K M Abraham, had on September 15 held discussions with the chairman and other top officials of Nabard in Mumbai, presenting the state's idea and request for funds before the agency.

When contacted, Abraham said that Nabard's green signal to the state's re quest would come as a major share of assistance also considering the fact that road projects would require the largest share of funds.

Each of such projects would be sanctioned based on technical feasibility and financial viability. The first board meeting of KIIFB board that has been tentatively finalised for the first week of November, to be chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, is likely to consider at least 16 road projects that will now be channelized to Nabard through KIIFB.

Nabard has also asked the government to forward the detailed project reports (DPRs) to it for funding them under Nabard Infrastructure Development Assistance (NIDA). The interest rates will be calculated on the basis of risk appraisal of the entity and the prevailing market conditions.

The interest rates in such cases are usually calculated on the basis of the base rate provided by Fixed Income Money Market and Derivatives Association of India (FIMMDA), an organisation that represents all major institutional segments of the market including the SBI and Nabard.

The main intention of KIIFB is to provide investment for critical and large infrastructure projects in the state. The state government has already provided Rs 1,000 crore as corpus fund to KIIFB, with which the state can kick-start major projects.