The new year is upon us. What positives are we carrying into it? With infrastructure development being a key way to spur an economy, what more needs to be done? What opportunities are likely to unfurl in the near future? CW examines the core sectors.

Roads

What good has happened?
Three key policy initiatives taken by the Central Government to boost infrastructure investment, development and management across sectors and geographies on an unprecedented scale are the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), the National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) and the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, observes Yogesh Kumar Jain, Managing Director, PNC Infratech. “To support these initiatives, this March, through an act of Parliament, the Government established the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development to support the development of long-term, non-recourse infrastructure financing. Monetising the Government’s operational assets is also expected to yield substantial revenues for the development of new and existing public infrastructure.”

What more needs to be done?
As both the Central Government and the states don’t have unlimited financial resources to fully realise these plans, active participation by the private sector in investment, development, construction, operation and management is imperative, continues Jain. “But to infuse confidence and trust in the private sector, a robust, balanced and mutually beneficial PPP framework is a prerequisite. If any provisions, regulations or policies need to be tweaked for such a framework mechanism to be introduced, it must be done. Timely, just and judicious decisions and actions by government authorities and proponents, throughout the lifecycle of infrastructure assets, are crucial to achieve the intended goals.”

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