Thiruvananthapuram: Toll will not be imposed on roads and bridges to be constructed using the funds of Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), Finance Minister Thomas Isaac told the Assembly on Monday. The KIIFB will ensure overall infrastructure development in the state at a faster pace in sectors like roads, hospitals, schools and industrial parks, the minister said while replying to discussions on a motion to refer the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund (Amendment) Bill to the subjects committee.
Already 6,419 projects have come up for consideration of funding by KIIFB which intends to raise Rs 50,000 crore. The government also plans to use bitumen macadam and bitumen concrete for all state, district and panchayat roads in future. The proposed amendment will augment the Kerala Investment Fund Board Act, 1999, which now looks obsolete, with modern clauses that will enable the board to seek money with considerable freedom.
It will also have the necessary amendments to allow KIIFB to employ a range of financial instruments like bonds and innovative financial structures approved by the RBI and SEBI like Alternative Investment Funds (AIF), Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and Infrastructure Debt Fund (IDF). Objecting to the bill, former finance minister K.M. Mani said the amendments would not have any validity as the board was not yet constituted.
