Rs 31,000-cr PPP projects under way in Andhra

There are 214 public-private-partnership (PPP) projects now existing in the state worth Rs 81,000 crore and 78 PPP projects, valued at Rs 31,000 crore are in the pipeline, according to chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.

“The money with the government cannot be spent on all projects. However, the projects cannot be stopped due to lack of funds and that is why we require the partnership of the industry to come in. But it should be for mutual benefit of both the partners, the state government and the industry and ultimately for the benefit of the people,” he said.

Participating in the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s infrastructure summit, Suminfra 2011, here on Thursday, Reddy said finances with the government had to be used in necessary and priority sectors like education, food security and health.

Quoting the instance of the Rajiv Arogyasri scheme, taken up with the support of private and corporate hospitals and made out schemes where poor people are operated and given best treatment and the government pays for it, the chief minister said 20 per cent of the beds were in government hospitals and the remaining 80 per cent were in private hospitals.

“But I would like to increase it to 40 per cent in government hospitals so that the government hospitals and their infrastructure would develop. If these facilities have to be created by the government alone, it requires huge investment. This is where the PPP model plays a crucial role,” he said.