Cabinet to vet national investment board plan

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has indicated that the proposal to set up the National Investment Board (NIB) for expediting clearance to large projects will soon come up for approval before the Cabinet.

“The Cabinet Note is with the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office. It will be listed before the Cabinet at a time when the prime minister decides it should be listed,” he said. He said NIB is intended to address only projects where the investment is over Rs 1,000 crore and all other projects are not being brought under its purview. The minister said while the NIB would help remove delays, only in rare cases where inter-ministerial differences are there, it would take decision. “Somebody has to resolve the conflict. It can’t be that each ministry will stick to its gun and no decision will be taken. So the NIB will be the body where the government takes a decision,” he added.

He further said like Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, NIB is a Cabinet Committee under the Prime Minster. “All decisions taken by any Cabinet Committee are decisions of the government. NIB is no different except that the name is NIB. We can call it a Cabinet Committee on Investment,” he said.