Penalty levied for delay of projects coming up in a public-private-partnership (PPP) model should not just be restricted to the partnership body. This was stated by Piyush Goyal, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy on Tuesday.

The Minister also called for efforts to make the PPP model more investor friendly. “I suggest that any framework we create should provide penalty for the private sector and the other side. One must not forget to address the delays in providing utilities which are necessary for the success of any project,” Goyal said while addressing the Happening Haryana Global Investors Summit.

The Minister added that in the long run, initiatives like Deen Dayal Jan Awas Yojna, Transit Oriented Development Policy and the New & Integrate Licensing Policy by the state of Haryana will encourage industrialists and entrepreneurs to bring investments in the real estate sector through the PPP mode.

“If India has to develop at the kind of pace that we all wanted to and provide bare necessities to its people by 2022, then clearly the PPP model is unavoidable. It will be the engine of growth in infrastructure sector and together we will have to evolve the right regulatory framework which should be simple and predictable,” Goyal said.

Last November, the Vijay Kelkar led committee which was reviewing the PPP model submitted its suggestions to the Ministry for Finance.

Leading infrastructure players such as Anil Ambani’s Reliance Infrastructure had pitched for a neutral regulator to look into all issues arising in public-private-partnership projects across sectors.

During the consultations with the Kelkar committee, several industry players had also pointed out that it is unfair for hold the developer responsible for delays beyond their control. These could be delays related to land acquisition, environment clearances or any such regulatory approvals.

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