M A I N   N E W S

Rs 1 lakh crore infra projects under PPP mode in 6 months
Sanjeev Sharma/TNS

New Delhi, June 28
In an aggressive push for infrastructure projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has set a target of rolling out projects worth at least Rs 1 lakh crore under the public-private partnership (PPP) mode over the next six months. This was among a slew of decisions taken today at the Prime Minister’s review meeting for infrastructure targets in 2013-14. Punjab would get three new low-cost airports at Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Ferozepur.

The PM emphasised the need to ramp up investment in the infrastructure sector to revive investor sentiment. A steering group is being formed to monitor the award and implementation of infrastructure projects, including the Mumbai elevated corridor, locomotive projects, airports, ports and power projects. Plans were finalised across all the major infrastructure sectors.

Many new airports are in the offing, including two new international airports at Bhubaneswar and Aizawl, 50 new low-cost small airports (including three in Punjab at Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Ferozepur) and eight green-field airports at Navi Mumbai, Juhu (Mumbai), Goa, Kannur, Pune, Sriperumbudur, Bellary and Raigarh. An inter-ministerial group will be formed with the task of coming up with a creative financing-cum-implementation mechanism for the Railways in two months. The step aims at clearing the large backlog of sanctioned projects of over Rs 2 lakh crore in a time-bound manner. The proposal for creating a Rail Tariff Authority will be accelerated and brought before the Cabinet soon.

The flagship projects of the Railways such as two loco-manufacturing projects, an elevated rail corridor, a dedicated freight corridor and station redevelopment will be closely monitored for award over the next six months.

According to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office, the slowdown in the award of road projects was expected to get reversed in view of the large number of relaxations being already provided to the projects under the PPP mode. Moreover, expressways would get focused attention and the Planning Commission would work with the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways to suggest an implementation mechanism for expressways.

The ministry would work in tandem with the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry to resolve remaining issues in the power sector and improve generation and transmission capacity. The Ministry of Power is working on a separate provision to operationalise open access.

New policies for ramping up coal production would also be put in place.