Roads top the list of public private partnership (PPP) projects in the country, followed by tourism and urban development, said Aparna Bhatia, Director of PPP Cell, Ministry of Finance.
Speaking at the tenth edition of ‘Summit on Sustainable PPPs in Infrastructure’ organised by CII, Bhatia said, “To define framework for PPP, the Centre has identified challenges ranging from regulatory issues to funding.”
“Most of the road projects are being funded through viability gap funding. Of the 12th Plan infrastructure investment of Rs 41 lakh crore, the Centre expects 50 per cent of the investment from the private sector,” she added.
Southern share
Of the 800-plus projects being implemented under PPP mode in India, South India accounts for a lion's share in terms of numbers as well as the size of the projects.
In spite of increasing interest in the PPP model, the quantum of investment from private sector in total infrastructure projects of India is very low, compared with many other countries.
Factors such as risk sharing between public and private institutions, bottlenecks in land acquisitions, and regulatory issues are affecting the private investment environment in PPP model came up for discussion at the CII meet.
Dr Raj Kumar Khatri, Principal Secretary, Karnataka Infrastructure Development Department (IDD), said, “Karnataka has 12 PPP cells today. A Web site on PPP framework is created to interact with customers.”
The State is also planning for seamless connectivity for north Karnataka between ports, roads, airports and railway transportation, he added.
Flagship event
“Today’s meet is the flagship event of CII for the four southern states. Over the past nine years, the growth of the event has been phenomenal it has to its credit many important initiatives for industry and government,” said Vinayak Deshpande, Chairman, Suminfra 2012 and Managing Director, Tata Projects Ltd.
“In PPP projects there were abnormal delays in land acquisitions. Southern states are blessed with some advantages like skilled engineers etc,” he added.
Paritosh Gupta, Co-Chairman, Suminfra 2012, and Managing Director, IL&FS – IDC, said, “India needs power, roads, telecom, and other urban infrastructure. Land acquisition models in Gujarat and Rajasthan were very successful. Project development involves seeing through the assets five years down the lane and working backwards.”