PM to meet key infra ministers on June 28 to set FY'14 target

Seeking to push investment to boost growth, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called a meeting of key infrastructure ministers on Friday to set up targets for the sector's projects.

The purpose of this meeting will be to discuss the targets to be achieved in infrastructure sectors for the year 2013-14 and finalise them, an official statement said.

The Prime Minister had followed the same practice last year in which a meeting was held on the targets for 2012-13, which were then finalised and announced, it said.

Manmohan Singh at CMs conference on internal security

This year also, the Planning Commission has done the preparatory work in finalising the targets for 2013-14.

The June 28 high-level meeting will be attended by Ministers of Railways, Road Transport & Highways, Shipping, Civil Aviation, Power and Coal.

The government has maintained that $1 trillion would be required in the infrastructure sector during the 12th Plan (2012-17) of which it expects 50% from private sector.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of economic growth falling to decade low of 5% in 2012-13 and contraction of industrial output.

The government has identified 215 infrastructure projects worth Rs 7 lakh crore which had been stalled at various stages of implementation due to reasons like administrative delays, want of environment clearances, among others.

Also, another 126 projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore that have been approved, are yet to take off.

To expedite stalled projects, the government has created a special group, headed by an officer in the cabinet secretariat, to look into each of the stalled projects. Also, many supply issues relating to coal and gas are being resolved.