Niti Aayog prepares plans to unlock stalled infra projects

Amid reports of over Rs 1.5 lakh crore locked in stalled infrastructure projects, the government has asked its policy think tank Niti Aayog to prepare a note on how to unlock them and speed up payment to the industry.

The move comes after a PMO level meeting last month, which was attended by bankers and infrastructure companies. The government is expected to move the note prepared by Niti Aayog in the Cabinet soon.

Consequently, Niti Aayog is preparing a Cabinet note for infrastructure ministries such as road and highways, transport, urban development and petroleum, where project delays are largely due to reasons like environment clearance and land acquisition.

The Aayog will take care of cases of  dispute and the order of the arbitration panel. It will suggest  infrastructure related ministries to ease arbitration norms and release stalled payments of infrastrature companies.

According to government data,  nearly three out of 10 central infrastructure projects in the country are currently held-up with delays ranging up to 10 years.

As on June as many as 1, 330 of 1,076 projects, each worth at least Rs 150 crore, were running behind schedule, Ministry of Statistic and Programme Implementation showed. The main reasons for delay in timely completion of the projects are law and order problems, delay in land acquisition, delay in environment and forest clearances, funding constraints, rehabilitation and resettlement issues, local body permissions and contractual issues.

The country needs about

$1 trillion (Rs 67 lakh crore) over the next five years to set right the creaking  infrastructure.