Karnataka   

Red tape delays several PPP projects in State

Bangalore: Even as the Karnataka Government has prepared a list of 148 projects to be taken up under the public-private-partnership (PPP) model, a large number of projects appear to be bogged down owing to several constraints, including slow clearances from the Union Government.

In fact, the Infrastructure Department has planned PPP projects worth Rs. 1 lakh crore for upgrading, expanding and developing infrastructure such as roads, railways and airports across the State.

The department has proposed to take up 48 projects and project reports of only 20 of them have been completed.

Of the 148 projects proposed on PPP model, a whopping 110 projects are alone in the transport sector, including roads, railways and airports, 18 are in urban infrastructure and municipal infrastructure, 11 in tourism, three each in agriculture and health, two in industrial infrastructure and one in animal husbandry.

Most of the projects would be developed on Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and Design, Build-Operate-Transfer (DBOT) models, officials in the Government told The Hindu. Though the State boasts of the successful execution of Bangalore International Airport Limited (BIAL) on a PPP model, there has been tardy progress in the implementation of other projects. Several projects have been awaiting clearances by the Union Government and its agencies, such as the Planning Commission. Enormous time required for the preparation of detailed projects reports (DRPs) on various projects involving investment of hundreds of crores of rupees is another factor for the slow progress.

Issues such as environment, land acquisition and rehabilitation, inadequate capacity in public and private sectors and lack of credible and bankable projects have been hampering implementation of infrastructure and other projects on PPP model, the officials said. The State Government came out with an Infrastructure Policy in 2007 focussing on 10 sectors. The policy’s objective is to provide a fair and transparent policy framework to facilitate and encourage public-private partnership. The Government has targeted to scale up the investment in the infrastructure from 4.5 per cent of the Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) to 8 per cent to 9 per cent of the GSDP.

For addressing infrastructure bottlenecks in the State, officials said an investment of Rs. 92,462 crore was required in the 11th Five Year Plan, Rs. 1,86,275 crore in 12th Five Year Plan and Rs. 3,15,657 crore in the 13th Five Year Plan. An annual investment of Rs. 25,000 crore was required to provide a quality infrastructure for accelerating the growth of the economy, the officials said.

However, Karnataka has not lived up to the reputation in the execution of PPP projects. “Karnataka has not been enjoying the full support from the Centre with regard to implementation of PPP projects”. Further, the Railways has not been actively supporting the execution of PPP projects in the State, a top official in the Government said.

The key infrastructure project — high-speed elevated rail —linking the Bengaluru International Airport Limited near Devanahalli and Bangalore city appears to remain only on the paper owing to bureaucratic delay with no clear direction for the speedy implementation of the proposed project. Similarly, there has been enormous delay in the execution of the controversial Bangalore-Mysore Infrastructure Corridor (BMIC) project on account of several factors, including legal disputes. The Government has to provide solutions to develop extensive infrastructure required for economic development, the officials said.

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