$500 bn to come from pvt sector for infra in 12th Plan

Private sector will be expected to contribute up to $500 billion for development of the infrastructure sector during the 12th Plan, an amount which will be nearly half of the total investment projected for the Five-Year period, the Planning Commission has said.

"We need to do a trillion dollar (investment in infrastructure sector in the 12th Plan) ... 50 per cent of investment has to come from the private sector," a top official of the Commission said.

The contribution of private sector in development of infrastructure sector is expected to go up from 25 per cent in the Tenth Plan to 36 per cent in the 11th Plan and further to about 50 per cent in the next Plan.

"A preliminary assessment suggests that investment in infrastructure during the Twelfth Plan would need to be of the order of about Rs 40,99,240 crore ($1,025 billion) to achieve a share of 9.95 per cent as a proportion of the GDP", Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia had said in a foreword to a recent report on investment in infrastructure.

The investment in infrastructure sector during the current Plan (2007-12) is expected to be nearly $500 billion, as was envisaged at the start of the Plan.

The Commission will draw a detailed plan for doubling investment in infrastructure and outlining the contribution of public and private sectors, the official said, adding huge investment would be needed to achieve a growth of 10 per cent in the Twelfth Plan as suggested by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

As it is not possible for the government alone to raise resources, he added, a significant amount would have to come from the private sector, especially through public-private partnership projects.