NDA plans new body to boost infra sector

 After launching Make In India initiative to encourage the manufacturing sector, the NDA government is working on boosting infrastructure by setting up 3P India– a new body to monitor public private partnership (PPP) projects.

“The Ministry of Finance is preparing fine print of the proposed body and likely to move a cabinet note seeking its approval soon,” sources in the government told Deccan Herald.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in his budget had allocated Rs 500 crore corpus for the body, which will have an advisory body on implement and monitoring the PPP projects. It will also streamline all issues related to PPP projects, including model concessionaire agreements, bidding process and dispute resolution mechanism, sources said.

The organisation will be set up as non-profit company on the lines of Partnerships UK (PUK) and the Centre will have a stake in it. PUK was set up in Britain in 2000 and played a vital role in implementing PPP projects. The proposed body in India will comprise professionals from all the infrastructure-related sectors like consultants, bank officials, lawyers, sources said. 

The Centre also plans to launch soon the new PPP website with more interactive options and details of all projects being implemented under private partnership.

With the Modi-led government aiming to give more thrust to building infrastructure projects like ports, dedicated fright corridors, industrial corridors and rail networks connecting ports, the government is depending more on PPP mode to implement this.
The Centre hopes that 3P will make the PPP projects more attractive and assure the investors that their money is safe, said an official in the Finance Ministry.

At present, around 900 PPP projects are in various stages of development across the country, including airports, highways and ports. However, 110 central infrastructure projects are delayed due to regulatory hurdle issues and this has resulted in over Rs 1.57 lakh crore cost overruns.