Prime Mover

Given the recent history of flak he has received for his seeming recalcitrance towards decisive action in the matter of stalled construction sector projects, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh seems to have redeemed himself last week with an extremely rare burst of aggro. His green signal to 36 infrastructure projects worth about Rs 2 lakh crore across sectors such as power, ports, roads, cement and petroleum could well be with an eye on next year's elections. But any movement from the PMO, which had made policy paralysis its theme song, must be viewed as necessarily good for the national populace starved of some constructive action from its leadership. Apart from ironing out procedural issues, the PM-headed Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) has set deadlines for the projects. With this, 28 power projects facing a variety of hurdles relating to coal linkages, environment issues and forest clearances have received a significant push from the apex body. It may be recalled that 18 projects requiring an investment of Rs 1.1 lakh crore have been facing delays relating to fuel supply agreements.