The Hindu Business Line : ‘Pvt players vital for developing urban infrastructure’

Hyderabad, Aug. 21 Mr S. Jaipal Reddy, Union Minister for Urban Development, has called for a “reliable, robust framework” for public-private partnerships (PPPs) to insulate the private investors from the fluctuations in the political spheres.

Addressing the national workshop on ‘Capacity building for promoting PPP in urban infrastructure’ here on Wednesday, he said it was estimated that there was a gap of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to take up projects for providing civic amenities and transport in urban areas.

“Of this, Rs 87,000 crore is required for development of urban transport,” he said.

Stating that urban local bodies were not in a position to take up the burden, he said the participation of private players was important to take up the projects. However, they needed assurance for their investments in the form of steady policies. The workshop was organised by India PPP Capacity Building Trust (ICAP), Administrative College of India (ASCI) and the Union Ministry of Urban Development.

According to Dr M. Ramachandran, Union Secretary (Ministry of Urban Development), the Deepak Parekh Committee estimated that India needed investments to the tune of $475 billion for the five-period, beginning 2007.

The Ministry pegged the investment requirement at $190 billion for the development of infrastructure in 5,161 urban centres. “The cities are bearing the brunt of rapid urbanisation and our infrastructure has not kept pace with this growth,” he said.

More Stories on : Infrastructure

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page