Protect and strengthen KIIFB, says CPI(M)’s ‘counter’ White Paper, amid UDF govt.’s revamp plan

Published 17 July 2026 · politics

While the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala is moving ahead with plans to overhaul the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the

While the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala is moving ahead with plans to overhaul the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), the ‘counter’ White Paper released by Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan earlier this week calls for strengthening and protecting KIIFB, describing it as “Kerala’s own model.” The UDF government’s White Paper on the State’s fiscal health, which recommends amendment of the KIIFB Act and ending the way loans are availed through it, sounds the death knell for the institution, says the ‘The White Paper of Facts’ drafted by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)]-led AKG Centre for Research and Studies. It has an entire section dedicated to KIIFB, seeking to counter the findings of the committee headed by former Union Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, which drafted the UDF government’s White Paper, and reiterating the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) declared stance on KIIFB.

It slams the committee’s finding that Kerala’s fiscal stress has been “compounded by parallel governance structures such as KIIFB.” KIIFB does not drain State revenues, rather it channelises legally-sanctioned revenues for capital formation, according to the document. “The (50%) motor vehicle tax and petroleum cess (given to KIIFB) are not appropriated by any private institution. Rather, they are used by the government-owned special purpose vehicle (SPV) for developing infrastructure for public use,” it says. Further, ‘The White Paper of Facts’ slams the K.M. Chandrasekhar-led panel for accepting the Union government’s “unilateral definition” of Kerala’s debt as an immutable fact. Rationale questioned The paper attempts to counter the committee’s finding that KIIFB has an “unmet liability” of around ₹21,000 crore, projects costing ₹35,000 crore “still to be funded” and that the institution’s fundamental premise has been undermined.

The paper released by Mr. Vijayan criticises these conclusions saying that if the committee’s rationale is applied to the State Budget, every under-construction road and building would have to be considered a ‘liability.’ The ₹21,000 crore is not merely a liability, but an amount equivalent to either completed or under-construction projects, while the ₹35,000 crore represents future capital formation, it says. On the committee’s finding that Kannur district alone accounted for over 20% of the KIIFB-approved amounts, the document blames the K.M. Chandrasekhar-led panel of merely finding fault with district-wise allocations and ignoring the projects that were meant to fill the infrastructure gaps in north Kerala. “Without providing any proof, there is only an allegation of political bias,” it says. The allegation that KIIFB allocations for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities were poor is also unscientific as the “bridges, bypasses and roads” built with KIIFB funds benefit all sections of the society in equal measures.