The growing financing requirements coupled with tightening of fiscal purse strings point to the pertinence of market-based finance for infrastructure provision and enhancement. For this, the question of the sectoral performance of infrastructure takes centre stage and this becomes the basis for the present study. The study assesses the risk-return and volatility profile of Nifty Infra, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) sectoral index for the 30 biggest infrastructure firms in India vis-à-vis the broader Nifty 50 for the time period 2010–2018. The study employs the standard financial economic analysis methods of capital asset pricing model (CAPM) and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity in mean (M-GARCH) model and finds the sectoral equity performance of infrastructure to be marginally below that of a broadly diversified index. Further, the study analyses the cash flow and leverage characteristics which are imperative factors in medium-term risk-return profile of infrastructure stocks. The disaggregated firm level analysis of 10 select firms reveals that rent-like return does exist for the biggest players in the sector due to past installed capacities, while the subcontracting mechanism percolates to meagre cash flows for smaller players, partly bearing the greenfield risks. This suggests the need for state-induced measures to prop up liquidity in equity trade for infrastructure firms. This would not only enhance the risk-return profile but also mitigate excessive volatility for these heavily leveraged firms.

不断增长的融资需求以及紧缩的财政预算案表明，基于市场的融资对于基础设施的提供和完善具有重要意义。为此，基础设施部门绩效的问题成为中心问题，这成为本研究的基础。这项研究评估了Nifty Infra的风险回报和波动性，Nifty Infra是印度30家最大的基础设施公司相对于2010-2018年期间更广泛的Nifty 50的国家股票交易所（NSE）行业指数。该研究采用资本资产定价模型（CAPM）和广义自回归条件均方差（M-GARCH）模型的标准金融经济分析方法，发现基础设施的部门股权绩效略低于广泛多元化的指数。此外，该研究分析了现金流量和杠杆特征，这是基础设施股票的中期风险收益曲线中必不可少的因素。对10家精选公司的分类分析表明，由于过去的装机容量，该行业中最大的参与者确实存在类似租金的回报，而分包机制渗透到较小的参与者的现金流很少，部分承担了未开发的风险。这表明需要采取国家干预措施来提高基础设施公司股权交易的流动性。对于这些高杠杆率的公司而言，这不仅会增强其风险收益率，而且还能减轻其过度动荡。对10家精选公司进行的分类分析显示，由于过去的装机容量，该行业中最大的参与者确实存在类似租金的回报，而分包机制渗透到较小参与者的现金流很少，部分承担了未开发的风险。这表明需要采取国家干预措施来提高基础设施公司股权交易中的流动性。对于这些高杠杆率的公司而言，这不仅会增强其风险收益率，而且还能减轻其过度动荡。对10家精选公司的分类分析表明，由于过去的装机容量，该行业中最大的参与者确实存在类似租金的回报，而分包机制渗透到较小的参与者的现金流很少，部分承担了未开发的风险。这表明需要采取国家干预措施来提高基础设施公司股权交易的流动性。对于这些高杠杆率的公司而言，这不仅会增强其风险收益率，而且还能减轻其过度动荡。这表明需要采取国家干预措施来提高基础设施公司股权交易的流动性。对于这些高杠杆率的公司而言，这不仅会增强其风险收益率，而且还能减轻其过度动荡。这表明需要采取国家干预措施来提高基础设施公司股权交易的流动性。对于这些高杠杆率的公司而言，这不仅会增强其风险收益率，而且还能减轻其过度动荡。