MILAN - Italy plans to launch a new investment fund to inject fresh resources into its strategic firms, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Wednesday.

A draft bill seen by Reuters showed the fund would invest in firms operating in "national strategic supply chains", including energy and procurement of raw materials.

"The role of the state as a shareholder capable of presiding over strategic sectors and helping companies grow is fundamental," Giorgetti said in a video message at a conference in Milan.

To launch the fund, the Treasury could earmark around 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) to be disbursed in several tranches, government officials said.

Private investors such as pension funds and insurers could join the ministry in investing in these strategic firms.

Giorgetti added Rome was studying a "sovereign wealth fund" to promote mergers between mid-capitalisation companies and large enterprises with the aim of working alongside state lender Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP).

The draft bill, which includes a wider set of measures aimed at promoting "made in Italy" productions, allows the Treasury to invest in "high-potential national enterprises" through financial vehicles or investment funds run by CDP.

Rome will operate "on market terms" to avoid breaching European Union rules limiting state aid rules, the draft showed.

($1 = 0.9084 euros)

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro in Milan and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome; Editing by Keith Weir)