Sitharaman tells Ministries-Departments to work “very hard” on NIP
Around 678 projects worth Rs.6 lakh crore under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) have progressed from the lower stage to the upper stage of project formulation and implementation till Q3 FY’21, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on 26 Feb 2021.
Around 216 projects worth Rs.74,067 crore having been completed till Q3 FY’21 by the infrastructure ministries, she told a virtual meeting with CEO, NITI Aayog, and Secretaries of 22 Infrastructure Ministries and Departments.
The meeting discussed post-budget action points for infrastructure roadmap ahead including NIP implementation.
But she also told the Ministries and Departments “to work very hard in order to ensure achieving targets of the NIP”.
The NIP is now handling nearly 7,606 projects worth US$1,825.49 billion. The NIP for FY 2019-25 is a first-of-its-kind, whole-of-government exercise to provide world-class infrastructure to citizens and improving their quality of life. It aims to improve project preparation and attract investments into infrastructure.
The Finance Minister also highlighted that the NIP is not just central government budgetary expenditure on Infrastructure. It also includes infra spending by states and private sector. It also includes government expenditure through extra budgetary resources.
Therefore, Ministries and Departments should actively work on getting project funded through innovative structuring and financing, provide all the help and support to private sector for enhanced infra spending.
The Ministries and Departments also need to explore PPP mode for viable projects and use government funding for pushing infrastructure projects which can’t be done in PPP mode, said the Minister. #tenders #projects #contracts #infrastructure #investment /fiinews.com
