Funds for '3P India' in 2014-15 budget not utilised: Jayant Sinha

The finance ministry has said the government could not utilise the funds earmarked in the 2014-15 budget for '3P India', as the proposed entity for the public-private-partnership projects was not established during that fiscal.

"Funds earmarked in the 2014-15 Budget for '3P India' could not be utilised as the proposed entity was not established during that financial year," Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

The recommendations to set up '3P India' are under consideration, he said.

The 2014-15 budget had allocated Rs.500 crore for '3P India' to address the grievances of PPP projects and fast-track the projects by developing a sophisticated system of contracting.

"The government has reviewed the recommendations of the Kelkar Committee on public private partnerships and the committee report is in the public domain," he said.

The report includes recommendations by central and state governments, financial institutions, private sector (industry and consultancy services) etc, he said.

"Further, some of the action recommended entails ongoing steps," he added.

The Kelkar Committee's suggestions include establishing an Infrastructure PPP Project Review Committee (IPRC), a dispute resolution tribunal and easier funding of PPP projects, amongst others.

--IANS

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