Industry cautiously welcomes draft of infrastructure policy

The Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) has appreciated the State Government for coming up with a proactive initiative of coming up with a Draft Infrastructure Policy to address this critical sector. The Karnataka government has prepared a draft policy on Infrastructure with the main objective of encouraging Public-Private Partnership in developing infrastructure in the state. The state government has set up Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee to streamline appraisal and approval of projects.

Expressing her views on the Draft Policy, the Chairperson of the Infrastructure Expert Committee of BCIC Sumitra Iyengar said that with regard to the investments being made by and / or management undertaken by the private sector entity, the principle is well understood and shared by the industry but it does not represent a compliment to the public sector. The statement needs to be rephrased as ‘harness private sector specific and complementary values that would assist in the delivery of quality services., she added.

She also feels that ‘In order to provide the right impetus for Project Financing and/or PPP projects a competitive bidding system would be required for transparency as well as equitable reasons. The industry chamber is also of the opinion that the length and bureaucracy of the process should not work against the interest of the project, it should not limit the private participation /contribution and it should not limit the entrepreneurial capacity of the Private to anticipate needs, anticipate solutions, formulate proposals, which go in the interest of all stakeholders.