Govt creates Rs 1,000-cr infrastructure fund

The Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced the creation of a Rs 1,000-crore fund, which will focus on infrastructure development.

This is in line with Tamil Nadu Vision 2023, which envisages a total investment of Rs 15,00,000 crore in key infrastructure projects.

In his 2012-13 Budget speech on Monday, state finance minister O Panneerselvam said that the current economic scenario called for a far-sighted and target-oriented approach from the government to make Tamil Nadu the most prosperous and progressive state in the country.

The government has formulated a Tamil Nadu Vision 2023 document for the state with clear goals to be achieved by 2023, coinciding with the next two Five Year Plans.

This vision statement, which revolves around 10 important themes and aspires for a six-fold growth in per-capita income over the next 10 years, aims at inclusive growth and making the state poverty-free.

Vision 2023 aims at making Tamil Nadu a state having the best infrastructure services in all vital sectors as well as the highest human development index (HDI) ranking in India.

“As already promised, we will shortly introduce a Legislation to form the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board with the chief minister as its chairperson to commence implementation of new projects. To begin with, we have allocated Rs.1,000 crore for the fund, in the Budget estimates for 2012-2013,” the finance minister said.