PM wants new bill for infra regulation

In order to bring greater certainty to private players investing in infrastructure and bulwark them from arbitrary executive interference that may derail projects...

In order to bring greater certainty to private players investing in infrastructure and bulwark them from arbitrary executive interference that may derail projects,Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the Planning Commission today to prepare a draft bill that will enable infrastructure regulators to act in an independent and autonomous manner. The PM also indicated that there must be a clearer definition of infrastructure per se,that must be formulated keeping in view the goals of inclusive development.

Infrastructure must therefore be defined broadly to include highways and roads of all kinds including rural roads,railways,air and water transport,irrigation,electric power,telecommunications,water supply and sewerage system, Manmohan Singh said addressing the Planning Commission conference Building Infrastructure Challenges and Opportunities in Delhi today. Citing the need for greater resource mobilisation in the sector,the PM said that preliminary exercises suggest that investment in infrastructure will have to expand to 1,000 billion in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. I urge the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission to draw up a plan of action for achieving this level of investment, he said.

The Eleventh Plan had estimated a need to invest over Rs 20 lakh crore in infrastructure over the five year period,which was more than double the realised investment during the Tenth Five Year Plan. With the government having to devote its funds towards livelihood programmes of the aam admi,private investment needs to play a larger role in reducing the infrastructure deficit of the country,he emphasised. Our experience shows that private participation in infrastructure development is indeed a feasible proposition and can help expand infrastructure much faster than it would have relying only on public resources. The telecom sector is the most compelling example of this proposition with the tele-density target of the Eleventh Plan being achieved ahead of schedule, he said.

The PM has also asked the Planning Commission to engage in detailed consultations with each of the infrastructure ministries and come up with agreed targets of achievement for each ministry,in order to identify slippages at early stages and take corrective action as necessary.

He highlighted that the government had not managed to pull up the pace of development in the power sector stating that the distribution segment,which is entirely in the states sector,continues to be fragile. He further said that open access should be operationalised as early as possible to enable bulk consumers to buy electricity directly from competing producers.

Cap food subsidies,says Montek

The government must raise prices of fuel,fertiliser and food sold under welfare schemes to keep its subsidy bill at targeted levels,the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission,Montek Singh Ahluwalia,said on Tuesday. To contain food and fertiliser subsidies at the BE budgeted estimate levels,prices will be have to be raised, Ahluwalia told a news conference. The country has budgeted Rs 1.01 trillion 22.2 billion for subsidies in the year that begins April 1.

Free fuel prices

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia,in a presentation,said: The present system of pricing petroleum products is fundamentally unviable. Petroleum products pricing has to be decontrolled as recommended by the Kirit Parikh Committee, he said.

IIFCL to be revamped

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NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said the government plans to revamp state-owned infrastructure financing company IIFCL India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd for facilitating the financing of infrastructure projects. IIFCL,which had raised Rs 10,000 crore through infrastructure bonds in fiscal year 2008-09 to finance projects in power and highways sectors,could not disburse these funds even in fiscal 2009-2010. We propose to gradually refashion IIFCL as a force multiplier for this sector. We intend to work in a focused manner to implement in letter and spirit the recommendations of the various expert committees, he said. ENS