India may need $1.7 trn for infra financing over 10 yrs

India may require $1.7 trillion for 10 years beginning 2010 to meet infrastructure demand and keep pace with economic growth and urbanisation, financial services provider Goldman Sachs said today.

The figure is higher than Goldman's previous estimate of $620 billion and the government's estimate of $500 billion for the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12).

"For the decade between 2010 and 2019, we expect (in today's prices) that India may require $1.7 trillion in the infrastructure sector, especially in roads, power, ports, telecom, water, sanitation and irrigation," Goldman Sachs India Chief Economist Tushar Poddar told reporters here.

Of this, power and roads alone may require upwards of $700 billion.

The country could dominate infrastructure demand in the rest of the emerging world over the coming decade, it said in a paper released here.

India's infrastructure needs will benefit not only local but also global contractors of capital goods, steel, cement and allied sectors. Risks like land acquisition and regulatory issues, however, may hamper the growth, it said.

"Government spending should focus on areas like irrigation, urban infrastructure, water and sanitation where private sector does not want to come in," Poddar said, adding the efficiency of Government spending is very low.