Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia proposed that the government must pay penalty in case of delay in granting statutory clearances to infrastructure projects.
This will create an incentive not to delay clearance, he said while addressing a Ficci conference. Several infrastructure projects in the country are delayed because of lack of statutory clearances like environment, forest.
Private sector participation in key infrastructure segments is lacking because of slow pace of granting statutory clearances, some reports suggest.
In order to attract at least 50 percent of the estimated $1 trillion needed to be pumped into the country’s infrastructure sector in the 12th five-year plan, there is need to expedite clearances at the government’s end, Ahluwalia said.
Meanwhile, Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Arvind Mayaram suggested allowing easy exit for infrastructure contractors once the project is stabilised.
He also suggested that the government must find ways to enhance the credit rating of SPV bonds so that they can go and raise money from the market for longer duration. This is going to be cheaper and can be restructured and stretched from seven years to 20 years.
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