The Hindu Business Line : CII moots apex body for infrastructure expansion

FOLLOWING a detailed study carried out on the progress of public private partnership (PPP) projects in infrastructure in the four southern States, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has recommended an apex level authority for faster infrastructure development.

The SUMINFRA-2005 (Summit on Sustainable PPPs in Infrastructure) Steering Committee member and Tata Projects Managing Director, Mr K.P. Singh, announced the study findings here on Wednesday.

According to him, an institutional framework at the apex level could be useful in translating policy into project level development more effectively and ensure coherence of initiatives across departments.

The study also recommended that all States should ensure clarity on policy direction on infrastructure development with specific guidelines for PPPs and should enact an overarching legislation on the lines of Andhra Pradesh Infrastructure Development Enabling Act (AP-IDEA).

Policies on infrastructure need to be backed by a strong action bias for wide-ranging reform and improvement in overall investment climate. Further, the study pointed out that implementing projects on PPP require new skill sets and understanding of emerging trends.

The CII Andhra Pradesh Chairman and GTN Textiles Managing Director, Mr M.K. Patodia, said though the State Governments have made visible efforts to create an enabling environment for PPP infrastructure, it was imperative to sustain and improve the momentum and create enabling conditions for implementing PPPs in infrastructure at a wider level.

The third edition of two-day SUMINFRA, scheduled to start on Thursday, will bring together all the stakeholders concerned with infrastructure development and unveil opportunities for private sector in the areas of ports, roads and urban infrastructure in the Southern region, the Summit Steering Committee member, Mr P. Vivek Anand, said.

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