50 projects pending before Cabinet Committee.
By R. Chandrasekaran
CHENNAI: In a major embarrassment to the government, which is shopping for investments in infrastructure and other areas, an estimated $52 billion worth of investment proposals are pending for approval.
As of May, there are more than 50 big projects pending before the Cabinet Committee on Investments (CCI). These projects are in sectors such as roads, mining, metals, highways, oil and gas and power.
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that it has given a list of pending projects to the Cabinet Secretary recently. While complimenting the CCI for resolving inter-ministerial issues in the last few months, the trade group urged the government to clear the listed projects to stimulate investment activities and remove any uncertainty over the projects.
In terms of project value, power sector proposals worth Rs.1.49 trillion are awaiting the CCI nod, while metals sector followed it with proposals valued at Rs. 562.65 billion. Roads and highways, which generated the maximum number of proposals, remained third with value of Rs.532.37 billion. Oil and Gas and mining sectors project proposals worth Rs.211.50 billion and Rs.80 billion, respectively, are also pending before the government for clearance. In all, the combined value of the proposals awaiting government clearance is estimated to be Rs.2.89 trillion (approximately $52 billion).
FICCI has also listed some of the major reasons for the delay in clearance of these projects. These included the new Land Acquisition Act due to which acquisition of land is put on hold; failure to sign fuel supply agreements; delay in getting approval from the Defense and Home ministries; delay in transfer of railways land and shifting of utilities; and delay in clearances from the Forest, Environment and Pollution Control Board.
At a time when the government is trying hard to project itself as investor friendly economy, the delay in giving approval to big project proposals will no doubt damage its credibility.
In recent weeks, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was in Tokyo seeking Japanese investments and Finance Minister Chidambaram was in Europe to sell infrastructure needs.
To contact the author, email to : rchandrasekaran@americanbazaaronline.com