Singh asks road ministry to approach PMEAC

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Thursday asked the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to resolve the issue on complaints of not getting loans from lending agencies for infrastructure projects with the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC).  

In the meeting chaired by the prime minister to review the infrastructure projects, the issue of banks’ reluctance to give loans to infrastructure projects came up.

“Secretary (RTH) will send a note to Chairman, PMEAC on the issue of RBI’s treatment of loans to the roads sector as unsecured loans,” the PMO said in a statement after the meeting.

It may be noted that a number of private companies in the road sector have raised the issue of a conservative and rigid approach by banks in providing loans to the highways projects with the Transport Ministry.

The RTH told the PMO that it will “try its best to award road projects as per the original targets for the current fiscal and will certainly cross 8,000 km of awards this year by March, 2013.”