'Infra dev through PPP to spur growth, create job; Projs worth Rs 27,514 cr in FY20 till date

Infrastructure development through pubic-private partnership spurs economic growth besides crating jobs and a related committee has approved projects worth Rs 27,514 crore this fiscal till date, a budget document said.

It also said that government's push towards infrastructure projects is expected to boost capital expenditure by 1.9 per cent of GDP by 2022-23.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tabled the Union Budget 2020-21 in Parlaiment on Saturday.

"Development of infrastructure through PPPs (public private partnership) helps in economic growth and development, creates jobs, provides opportunities for private sector participation, and improves living conditions," the Budget document said.

It said during the ongoing fiscal Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) has recommended projects with a total project cost of Rs 27,514 crore till date.

Out of these, one project is for port sector development, four are railway station projects, two are related to eco-tourism and one for passenger train.

"PPP projects are long-term projects and appropriate risk allocation lies at the heart of a good PPP project," it said.

The PPPAC recommended 56 projects with a total cost of Rs 87,728 crore from FY2014-15 to FY 2018-19.

Of these projects, 43 are road sector projects, three are port sector projects, eight are airport sector projects and one each are Housing and Tourism sector projects.

"Capex (capital expenditure is expected to reach 1.9 per cent of GDP by 2022-23 on account of government's push towards infrastructure projects.

Capital expenditure as a percentage of GDP is expected to increase by 0.1 per cent in BE (budgetary estimate) 2020-21 (over Revised Estimate 2019-20) to reach 1.8 per cent of GDP, the document said.

In BE 2020-21, capex is budgeted at Rs 4,12,085 crore.

The government had earlier notified the appraisal mechanism by setting up the Public Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) responsible for the appraisal of PPP projects in the Central Sector.

The appraisal mechanism for PPP projects was streamlined to ensure speedy appraisal of projects, eliminate delays, adopt international best practices and have uniformity in appraisal mechanism and guidelines including risk allocation.

The PPPAC is chaired by Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs with Secretaries of Department of Expenditure, Department of Legal Affairs, the Sponsoring Ministry/Department and CEO, NITI Aayog as members, to consider and approve the proposals for Central Sector PPP Projects.