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Rs. 40,000 crores for infrastructure projects

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 9. The Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, has institutionalised the arrangement for faster implementation of infrastructure projects and provided Rs. 40,000 crores to finance them.

The former Finance Minister, Jaswant Singh, announced a Rs. 40,000-crore fund for infrastructure projects last year. However, many projects could not take off because of the ambiguity about the sources from where this money would come.

Mr. Chidambaram has now announced in the budget that the Industrial Bank of India, Infrastructure Development Finance Corporation, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Bank of Baroda and Punjab National Bank have formed an inter-institutional group (IIG) to facilitate such projects. These institutions would pool in their resources on a callable basis and Rs. 40,000 crores would be made available as and when necessary. The IIG would ensure speedy conclusion of loan agreements and implementation of infrastructure projects, the Minister said.

Mr. Chidambaram announced that initially the IIG would target airports, seaports and tourism.

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