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Prime Minister Manmohan Singh wants private sector to partner cash-strapped government in key infra projects - 07 Jun 2012 - India Today

Published On :2012-06-18 16:06:00

In a desperate attempt to revive India's sagging growth and keep critics at bay, the PM has jacked up growth targets for projects in five key infrastructure sectors covering roads, ports, rail, civil aviation and power. This big push to the infrastructure sectors during the current fiscal (2012-13) is aimed at getting the economy back on the 9 per cent growth trajectory.

The target for ports during the year will consist of as many as 42 projects valued at Rs.14,500 crore, which will create an additional capacity of 244 million tonnes per annum (MTPA). This is three times the figure achieved last year. Two projects involving an investment of Rs.20,500 crore for constructing new and "major ports" on the east coast will be taken up during the year. While, one of these will come up in Andhra Pradesh, the other will be in West Bengal.

The total road length to be awarded in 2012-13 will be 9,500 kilometres, an increase of 18.7 per cent over last year. The investment will go up by 73.6 per cent. Another 4,360 km of road will be awarded for maintenance under the operate, maintain, transfer (OMT) system for the first time.

As far as the civil aviation sector is concerned, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) will commence work on Itanagar airport soon. The total investment on AAI projects will be Rs.2,100 crore.

Three new greenfield projects will be awarded during the current fiscal at Navi Mumbai, Goa and Kannur. New international airports will also be declared in three or four of the following locations this year - Lucknow, Varanasi, Coimbatore, Trichy and Gaya.

The status of PPP projects for the railways was also reviewed and targets fixed. These included the dedicated freight corridor in which the PPP for the Sonnagar-Dankuni stretch will be awarded in the current fiscal.

It was also decided that the elevated rail corridor for Mumbai, with a total investment of Rs.20,000 crore, will be awarded during this financial year.