CCI to the rescue of 171 projects worth Rs. 1.69 L Cr
As many as 171 projects worth Rs. 1,69,426 crore were cleared by the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) on August 5th, 2013, as reported by the Minister of State for Finance. The CCI was formed by the government, with the Prime Minister as chairman. The purpose of this body is to make crucial decisions with regards to approvals or clearances for implementation of projects with sizable investments. As a result, it is expected that there will be increased efficiency, promptness, accountability and transparency in the implementation of major projects.
It was earlier informed by the Finance Minister that a compilation of 215 such projects had been made. About 7 lakh crore was lent by banks towards such projects. Documentation of time and cost overruns were made and an action plan was chalked out with regards to the removal of bottlenecks impeding the implementation of such projects. Clearing some of the hurdles involves measures to be taken that fall under the domain of central regulatory authorities. However, a majority of the impediments that need to be removed fall under the domain of state governments and local bodies.
A large number of private sector infrastructure projects have either been temporarily stalled or are long pending as per the information received from banks. The reason for this stalemate is due to the regulatory clearances that need to be obtained from different departments or agencies of the central or state governments. Due to this fiasco, funds cannot be released by banks or financial institutions until a decision is taken in this regard.
A project monitoring group has been constituted to keep track of all major pending projects, both in the public and private sectors. It involves discussions by the ministries or departments that are associated with these projects so as to resolve issues that are negatively impacting the implementation of these projects. To smooth-en the tracking of such projects, a web-based information system has been developed. This enables entrepreneurs to provide the details of their projects online along with the various issues that they are facing in the smooth implementation of their projects.
An online portal had earlier been created by the Ministry of Environment and Forests. The objective of this portal is to keep track of the status of projects that have been sent for clearances.This will give a vivid idea to the project monitoring group regarding the hassles faced by private entrepreneurs with their projects, thereby enabling them to take adequate measures so that issues associated with such projects are adequately resolved and they are smoothly implemented. Based on the inputs provided by the project monitoring group, final decisions regarding issues pertaining to unresolved policies as well as clearances required are taken by CCI.
The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission had stated that this institutionalized mechanism once operational would enable the speedy resolution of about 20-30 major projects that have been delayed. A list of 52 projects in the private sector was prepared by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) with a total investment of over Rs. 1,000 crore, which have been hindered due to various reasons. A CCI Projects Tracking System portal had been prepared by the Cabinet Secretariat to keep track of such projects.
