Infrastructure How Serious Is Our Government

Infrastructure How Serious Is Our Government

INFRASTRUCTURE
        How serious is our government?
                            By- Richa Saxena and Rashmi Gupta
              One of the greatest challenges facing India today is the creation of much needed infrastructure in order to sustain economic growth of over 8%, as well as to enhance the standards of living of the masses. To develop world class infrastructure, India requires large investments both domestic and foreign, complemented by well designed Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiatives. To achieve this, the Indian Government says that it has accorded highest priority to development of infrastructure.
        Infrastructure is actually a broad term including electricity generating assets, roads and bridges, telecommunication infrastructure, railway infrastructure, irrigation facilities, water supply and sanitation infrastructure, air and sea ports. It is obvious that substantial funds need to flow in to create the much needed infrastructure and the quantum of funds required over the next four to five years is being pegged at close to $500 billion, even at a very conservative level. Analysts strongly argue that if such levels of investment do not materialise, it can have a negative impact on the country’s GDP growth rates by as much as 2% to 3%. There is a clear, substantial infrastructure gap in the country!
      What is the quantum of investment required in infrastructure?
The eleventh plan, prepared by the Planning Commission covering the period 2007-2012, recognizes that infrastructure inadequacies might constitute a significant constraint in realizing the country’s development potential. In order to bridge this gap, an ambitious program of infrastructure investment, involving both public and private sectors, has been developed for the eleventh plan. The program ensures strengthening and consolidation of recent infrastructure related initiatives – such as Bharat Nirman for building rural infrastructure –as well as other sectoral...