Legal Structure Stifles Pvt Role In Core Sector: Cii

The infrastructure sector has failed to attract private sector participation mainly because of "intricate rules and a plethora of legal formalities that retard the decision-making process", the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said in a statement here yesterday.

To encourage private participation in infrastructure, the government must reform the legal structure to facilitate returns for investors, the statement said. This will also result in security for lenders and users.

"Private participation in infrastructure leads to efficiency in operations and use of funds," it added.

To provide the government with inputs for reforming the legal system that governs infrastructure, CII and the Supreme Court Bar Association of India are jointly organising a national conference on `Legal Reforms in Infrastructure', to be held in here on May 12 and 13.

 

The conference will be attended by over 100 participants and will feature top players from infrastructure and law, the statement said.

The inaugural session will feature the Supreme Court Judge Rajendra Babu, Planning Commission member Montek Singh Ahluwalia, and director (research) of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, Bibek Debroy.

The meet will have dedicated sessions on legal reforms in urban infrastructure, airports, surface transport, energy and telecommunications. The other main speakers at the meet are R V Gupta, secretary, ministry of civil aviation; R N Goyal, member, Telecom Commission; Shardul Shroff, senior partner, Amarchand, Mangaldas, Hiralal Shroff and Company; Ravi Parthasarthy, vice-chairman, IL&FS; Gautam Dalal, head (India) KPMG; T R Dua, director, Bharati Enterprises; Dhanendra Kumar, additional secretary, DoT; B N Puri, additional advisor, Planning Commissioner; Justice K T Thomas (Supreme Court), and T Gopala Rao, principal secretary and commissioner, industrial promotion, Andhra Pradesh.