Pravasi Chitty to tap NRI investments

Thiruvananthapuram: A Pravasi Chitty announced by Finance Minister Thomas Isaac in his budget aims at utlising pravasi funds for infrastructure development. The government is expecting to raise Rs 12,000 crore from the Pravasi Chitty which would be used to fund a 1267 kilometre hill highway and 630 kilometre coastal highway. The Pravasi Chitty will be introduced by Kerala State Financial Enterprise (KSFE). The target is to get the chitty subscribed at least by one lakh NRIs in the first year.

The bonds issued for the construction of hill and coastal highways for an amount of Rs 10,000 crores through Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board will be raised through Pravasi Chitti, said the budget. NRKs can make their monthly remittance through any of the payment gateways. The entire remittance will be invested automatically in the NRI bonds of KIIFB in the name of KSFE as and when the money is remitted. There will be a call option available for KSFE for withdrawing sufficient amount at the time the subscriber gets the bid or when withdrawing the deposited chitty amount. The balance free float will remain in the KIIFB bonds.