The Centre plans to bring in more safeguards for investment of pension and insurance funds in infrastructure projects to deflect criticism that the funds are not being used in debt papers of the Centre and the states. These additional conditions are necessary to raise the Rs 50,000-crore fund for investing in the core sector, a significant part of which will come from domestic pension and insurance funds. According to the existing regulatory framework, insurance firms can allocate up to 15% of the sum for investment in infrastructure. The money is meant only for operational infrastructure projects and through AAA-rated securities. ...

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