Hitting the PPP road for core facelift

For its cash-starved economy, the Punjab Government is increasingly taking recourse...

For its cash-starved economy, the Punjab Government is increasingly taking recourse to the public-private partnership PPP model. More than a dozen of the state8217;s projects, especially those in the pipeline, are being planned on the model. From airports to flying clubs, hospitals to medical colleges, roads, bridges and in the transport sector, private partnership is more than a 8216;norm8217; than an exception.

Experts are of the view that for a dismal growth of the state GDP at 4.5 per cent and whopping outstanding debt of Rs 52,000 crore, participation of the private sector will bring in more professionalism in the state much to the benefit of consumers.

Take for instance bus stands in Punjab. Almost all of them are dirty-looking without even the basic facility of safe drinking water and clean toilets. The Punjab Government has proposed to put all this behind. Air-conditioned multi-storeyed shopping malls and multiplexes will come at the bus stands that will be leased out to private players.

As per the plan, a private agency will revamp the entire infrastructure for a bus stand and carry out its maintenance. 8220;For this, expressions of interest EoIs are being invited next week,8221; S S Sandhu, Special Principal Secretary to Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, told The Indian Express.

The bus stands at Mohali, Bathinda, Patiala and Hoshiarpur are being included in the first phase.

Technical institutions, ITIs, expressways, ring roads and even Punjab Tourism is going the PPP way. A World Trade Centre and an IT tower have been planned for Mohali officially SAS Nagar, a township adjoining Chandigarh which again will see private-public partnership. The state has also opened its healthcare sector for private players. The Punjab Institute of Medical Science, a hospital-cum-college project that had for years failed to take off for want of funds, is set to roll. The Government has received responses from over a dozen private players, including Fortis and Alchemist, to join hands to start a hospital and a 100-seat medical college offering graduate and post-graduate degrees.

The incumbent Shiromani Akai Dal-BJP combine in Punjab is also working on seeking private partnership for running three flying clubs in Patiala, Ludhiana and Amritsar. 8220;We have received applications from 16 players who have shown interest in opening pilot training academies at these places,8221; Sandhu said.

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The PPP mode is also taking care of Punjab8217;s infrastructure projects, including the Mohali-Phagwara expressway, expressway around Mohali, Ludhiana and Amritsar link road and the project to four-lane the road along the Sidhwan canal, Ludhiana, sources said.

Sports too is being promoted via the PPP model. The sports complex at Mohali is to come up in partnership with a private agency. The SAD-BJP combine was wanting to bring up its proposed Mohali International airport, spread over 320 acres of area near Chandigarh, on a PPP basis. However, the plan could not materialise following the Government8217;s apprehension that the plan may not get the Defence Ministry8217;s approval since the proposed airport is in close vicinity to an Indian Air Force base.