PM Manmohan Singh calls for transparency in road projects

Amid growing public outcry over corruption, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today called for complete transparency in awarding of the highway projects to eliminate the possibility of favouratism or crony capitalism.

"It is necessary to demonstrate that the award, construction and operation of these (highways) projects is based on a fair and transparent approach which eliminates any suspicion of favouratism or what might be described as crony capitalism," Singh said at the conference of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in National Highways.

The government is envisaging an investment of $1 trillion in infrastructure sector during the 12th Five-Year Plan (2012-17), up from $500 million in the current Plan.

The emphasis on transparency in road projects comes on the heels of social activist Anna Hazare staging a hunger strike in the capital to press for Jan Lokpal Bill. Hazare's struggle against corruption drew support from large sections of people across the country.

For large road building programme, Singh said, "efficiency, economy, competition and transparency are vital touchstones that should be used for judging our level of success. These are especially important when we deal with the private sector.

"We must remember that these are public projects where public interest must be foremost in our mind...it goes without saying that it seems a very challenging task, but I am convinced that our economy has the resilience to live up to challenges that lie ahead", he added.

Moreover, Singh said, that high level of investment in infrastructure sector was one of the important preconditions for achieving 9 per cent economic growth target during the 12th Plan, up from 8.2 per cent in the current Plan.

The government has been successful in attracting large private investments, Singh said, adding that road contract awards exceeded about 4,800km in 2010-11 and 7,300km are likely to be given during this fiscal with a view to constructing 20km roads a day.

The country has 71,000km of national highways, though the National Highways Development Programme has been able to address about 25,000km so far.

Pointing out that of the total national highways, 20,000km is single lane, Singh said, "a time-bound programme for widening these roads to two-lane standards would be taken up through turn-key contracts".

Talking about the financing constraints faced by infrastructure projects, Singh said the Finance Ministry is taking the initiative to set up Infrastructure Debt Fund to enhance the flow of the much needed long-term debts.

"There are, however, areas where private investment can be invited, based on affordable user charges with some capital subsidy as necessary," he said, adding, "I have often said PPP is private profit in service of public at large".

Singh said the NHAI, which deals mostly with the roads that can attract private capital, has made PPP the preferred mode for most of its projects.

PPP projects take much less time to complete and the government does not have to bear cost overruns, he said.

"This will not only enable us to leverage our limited public resources but also improve efficiency of service delivery," Singh said.

India has attained the second rank globally among developing countries in attracting private investment for infrastructure projects, he added.