Planning commission sets quarterly infra targets

To also act as a monitoring agency and gauge the performance of ministries responsible for the projects.

The Planning Commission of India is all set to closely monitor the progress in infrastructure development in the country. The commission, which has till date set annual projections over a five-year period, has set infrastructure targets for various sectors on a quarterly basis and will gauge the performance of ministries responsible for infrastructure development.

Quarterly monitorable infrastructure targets have been set up for power, road transport and highways, ports, civil aviation and railways.

“Such a step will add to our ability to judge how things are progressing in various sectors. We would be able to tell how much we are targeting and achieving on a quarterly basis. By tracking like this, we would be able to identify problems in the sectors and act accordingly,” said Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

He further said the private sector would fund around 40 per cent of the 2007-12 infrastructure funding and was likely to meet the target of $500 billion investment in infrastructure in the eleventh plan period (2007-12). However, he said that the contribution of the public sector in infrastructure development has fallen short of its target, according to the mid-term analysis, while private investment, particularly in telecommunications, has been more than expected.

Even as most of the infrastructure sectors have not been able to meet the annual targets for the previous financial year 2009-10, the targets for most have been revised upwards in the range of 20-45 per cent.

Ahluwalia indicated that quarterly monitoring was needed, as in a situation where government resources are scarce, resources should be utilised in well-performing sectors.

“It’s common economic rationale that when resources are scarce, the government should allocate them to sectors which are performing well, instead of those which are not delivering,” added Ahluwalia.

According to the targets set by the Commission, both the central and state governments, along with private companies, will add 20,359 Mw of power to its present capacity. Of this, around 20 per cent (4,126.5 Mw) will be added by the end of the first quarter (April-June 2010)

The government had set a target of 14,507 Mw of capacity addition in the previous financial year, but was able to add only 9,585 Mw.

For roads and highways, the target is construction of 2,500 km of highways in 2010-11, compared to 2,008.93 km in the previous financial year.

It has set an expenditure target of Rs 35,680.86 crore on roads and highways construction, against Rs 11,608.50 crore during the corresponding period last year (2009-10). Under the annual plan 2010-11, it has provided Rs 22,000 crore to the rural development ministry to develop rural roads.
 

TRACKING DEVELOPMENT
Sector	Target   2009-10	Achievement  2009-10	Target  2010-11	Q1 (Apr-Jun‘10)  target
Power (capacity in Mw)	14507 MW	9585MW	20359MW	4126.5MW
Road, Transport, Highways (in km)	3165.55km	2008.93km	2,500.00km	764.91km
Ports (capacity of projects in mmt)	NA	NA	168.45MMT	14.90MMT
Civil Aviation (investment in  PPP airports in Rs crore)	NA	Rs 5320.71 cr	Rs 2635.61 cr	Rs  663.41 cr
Railways (New lines in km)	250 km	85 km (up to Dec 09)	1019 km	42 km

A total of 21 port upgradation projects are set to be awarded in the current financial year, with private companies contributing Rs 13,891 crore for projects, which are jointly run by state-run agencies.

In order to beef up infrastructure at the country’s key airports, the government wants private firms to invest Rs 2,635 crore in developing airports in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

The Railways have been projected to add about 18,000 wagons, 4,000 coaches and add 1,019 km of new lines during the ongoing financial year.