By IANS
Bangalore : The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has advocated the setting up of a regulatory commission to monitor infrastructure projects across the country, especially those in the public-private partnership (PPP) mode.
"As all-round infrastructure development is critical to sustain the robust economic growth, the need of the hour is to tackle structural issues pertaining to policy framework, land acquisition, labour laws and funding," Larsen & Toubro president (operations) J.P. Nayak told IANS Thursday on the eve of the two-day CII 'Suminfra' summit on "Sustainbale PPPs in Infrastructure" here.
"To ensure infrastructure projects do not suffer from delays and cost over-runs, a regulatory panel should be constituted to supervise their progress and timely completion," Nayak, also the chairman of Suminfra'07 said.
With investments for accelerated infrastructure growth estimated to be about $320 billion, India Inc wants the government to facilitate project development in a time-bound manner and involve all stakeholders through the PPP model.
"In the southern region, we have formed a unique forum to promote PPP in infrastructure development with the support of the respective state governments in Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala," Nayak said.
"A regulatory commission for infrastructure, on the lines of telecom, petroleum and power, will ensure the early implementation of various on-going and forthcoming projects," he said.
A recent CII survey has revealed the four southern states taking several initiatives to step-up infrastructure development through the PPP mode have gained competitive edge over its counterparts in the country.
As a result, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are marching ahead in the knowledge sector, accounting for around 55 percent of the country's total software export of $12.5 billion in 2005-06.
Similarly, 90 percent of the $300 million investment in the IT-enabled and BPO (business process outsourcing) services was in the southern region.
"South India is the only telecom market in the country where all the six national players are fully operational in all the circles of the region. Again, south India accounts for about 80 percent of the total $200-million engineering services," CII Karnataka region chairman N Reguraj pointed out.
To be inaugurated by Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy, the fifth edition of Suminfra will deliberate on PPPs in infrastructure development with focus on project development, governance framework on PPPs, land acquisition, urban infrastructure and community involvement in PPPs.
Decision-makers in town planning, entrepreneurs, financial institutions, key industry players and policy makers will deliberate on various issues dogging infrastructure projects across the country.