Government to exhilarate infrastructure projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore
New Delhi: The government has requested state-run lenders to identify potential bottlenecks in the fifty odd and newly sanctioned infrastructure projects, with the objective to fast track projects which have a combined outlay of over Rs 1 lakh crore and involves firms such as Petronet, HPCL-Mittal, L&T, PFC and Ansal.
As per a finance ministry official, by the end of this month P Chidambaram the Finance Minister is probably going to conduct a review meeting on the status of the stalled projects with the idea of ensuring smooth take off these projects.
The government does not expect the state-run lenders to work out the fine print, instead since the state-run lenders have appraised these projects they would be able to point out any possible irritants. Approximately Rs12,000 crore has been sanctioned by various banks for these projects.
The ministry together with the special cell in the Cabinet Secretariat is also contemplating and considering an effective coordination mechanism to push these big-ticket investments. Anil Swarup who is the additional secretary would be heading the cell. The additional secretary has already started meeting with chief secretaries of various state governments regarding the issue. In accordance with officials belonging to the special cell, the cell has set up a portal through which some more information has been collated directly from the companies, as the government desires all the involved parties, including banks, to be aware of the latest status of these projects.
The respective concerns of banks would also be taken up during their state-level banker committee meetings in order to achieve better coordination amongst themselves as well as with the respective state governments. There have been a few incidents where in few minor issues fell under the domain of the respective state governments; and by bringing them on board would help fast-track the entire process. So far, about Rs 3,000 crore has been disbursed by the banks to some of the newly-sanctioned projects.
A list consisting of 98 stalled projects at the regional level with a total outlay of Rs 5 lakh crore has been worked out by the ministry. Of the Rs 5 lakh crore banks have already sanctioned more than Rs 1.7 lakh crore. According to bankers, it will cut back the burden of non-performing assets and enable them to administer fresh loans if couple of the stalled projects get cleared. However, currently bankers are not willing to disburse the existing loans due to the possibility of these loans turning into bad loans. As per an executive director with a state-run bank, fresh sanctions could be considered if there is any movement.
Earlier this month, the finance minister had told the banks to cooperate with the special cell. “Wherever the banks have to do something to get the stalled projects off the ground, the banks will do it. The goal is to get 20-30 stalled projects off the mark and reach commencement operation date by the end of this month,” Chidambaram had said, adding that certain stalled projects should get implemented every month.
