JOIN USEven as projects worth Rs 7 lakh crore in road, steel and power sectors are still awaiting clearance, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday proposed a fresh investment target of Rs 1.15 lakh crore in the next six months for rolling out new schemes in the infrastructure sector.
The new projects expected to come up on a public private partnership (PPP) mode are spread across rail, road, port and power sectors and are touted to be the next step forward in boosting investor sentiments in the slowing Indian economy.
The decision, which was taken at a meeting held by the prime minister to finalise infrastructure projects for 2013-14, comes a fortnight after he directed constitution of a special cell in the Cabinet Secretariat to monitor the earlier 215 projects which are still languishing due to various reasons.
The projects that were proposed Friday were in addition to these.
“For this purpose, a target of rolling out PPP projects of at least Rs 1 lakh crore in the next six months was set. A steering group is being formed to monitor the award and implementation of projects on priority basis,” a release from the Prime Minister’s Office said.
It said the prime minister emphasised that a lot of work was needed to be done to improve the infrastructure sector and there should be no slackening of the pace of work.
The proposals include the Mumbai elevated rail corridor (Rs 30,000 crore), two international airports in Bhubneswar and Imphal (Rs 20,000 crore) and power and transmission projects (Rs 40,000 crore), two locomotive projects (Rs 5,000 crore), one expressway project (Rs 25,000 crore), port projects (Rs 10,000 crore) and accelerating a dedicated freight corridor (Rs 10,000).