By IANS,
New Delhi : India’s infrastructure sector is likely to face a financing shortfall of $40.62 billion during the current five-year plan period ending 2012, the finance ministry said Friday.
“The total requirement of debt by the public and private sectors for financing infrastructure in the 11th five year plan is likely to be $247.01 billion, against which the debt financing available has been estimated at $206.38 billion,” Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said in written reply in the Lok Sabha.
At a parliamentary consultative committee meeting held Tuesday, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had said infrastructure projects were likely to face up to 30 percent or Rs.12.3 lakh crore financing shortfall in the 12th plan period (2012-17).
The government has set a target to invest Rs.41 lakh crore in infrastructure sector during the five year plan period starting 2012.
Meena said a concept paper on setting up of an India infrastructure debt fund was submitted by a committee chaired by Deepak Parikh, Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation.
The government, however, did not plan to set up any dedicated debt fund to channelise foreign savings in the infrastructure sector, he said.
Mukherjee earlier this week had highlighted the need for regulatory changes to attract more foreign capital, especially debt capital, to fund infrastructure projects in the country.