By IANS,
Mumbai : India needs to adopt the strategy of public finance initiative (PFI) for its infrastructure development, the way London city did it in the ’80s, to re-emerge as the “first port of call for developmental expertise”, said Lord Mayor of London David Lewis.
At a seminar on “Urban Regeneration and Project Finance and Public & Private Partnerships” (PPP) held here Tuesday, Lewis told a gathering of crème de la crème of Mumbai’s trade community that with the adoption of the two-pronged strategy comprising both PFI and PPP, “City of London has become the world’s leading financial centre”.
Lewis, who is leading a delegation of senior businessmen visiting various major urban centres in India, said that in any developmental exercise “the prime requirement is to focus on the strategy involving the finance”.
“The use of PFI and PPP does not mean privatisation. In fact, it only means that moneys are being taken from the people who want to use the facility that is to be provided. In today’s world, the state is not in a position to fund infrastructure projects and thus it is only through intelligent means of garnering funds that such projects can be seen through,” he observed.
Elaborating on the change in the developmental perspectives, he said that since 1992 in Britain we have carried out 850 developmental contracts totalling US $150 billion-the largest in the world.
He said that both India and Britain share similar values and, “can be a strategic partners in various projects”.
Quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Lewis said: “The great leader once said that future depends on what we do in present, so let us come together and create India of tomorrow.”