NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi administration is keen to see projects, which had been hit by clearance hurdles, actually take off at the ground level so that economy activity goes up and jobs are created. As a result, it has asked all ministries to furnish details of power plants, roads and industrial units that were held up for want of clearances but are expected to go on stream after the project monitoring group in the cabinet secretariat stepped in to remove the roadblock.
“The government wants to see smoke billowing out of these factories, cars actually running on these roads and power actually flowing out of the plants,” said a senior government official, who did not wish to be identified.
Of the 438 projects referred to the project monitoring group ( PMG), concerns in 155 projects have been addressed which involve an investment of Rs 5.5 lakh crore. As reported by TOI in April, against investment intention of Rs 3.67 lakh crore for 113 projects, Rs 3.25 lakh crore had been invested. But several of these projects were yet to begin production.
Sources said that developers and the promoters are not required to provide details to the government on the latest progress once the project is cleared by the government agencies, resulting in absence of details.
While the task of monitoring the progress was earlier given to the department of financial services, information was not forthcoming, resulting in the cabinet secretariat and the Prime Minister’s Office directly stepping in to monitor the results.
For instance, in case of the Rs 12,000-crore Aerocity project in Delhi, which was held up due to security concerns, some of the hotels which are part of the complex have started operations, while several others are still under construction stage. This is one of the several projects where all issued were resolved . The new format requires all government department to get details of the date of commission, the date of commercial operation , physical progress on production, power generation and if there are further unresolved issues.
In case of projects that are yet to be commissioned despite the approvals coming through, apart from the project cost and the investment made, the date of financial closure , the expected date of commissioning , physical progress and the unresolved issues have to be submitted to the cabinet secretariat. Held up projects has been cited as one of the key reasons for India Inc to be going slow on fresh investments as most companies have borrowed large amounts from banks and the market and in some cases are facing cash flow pressures.
No more in dark?
The Centre’s main aim is to clear hurdles for projects vital to the economy so that growth picks up and jobs are created.
Of the 438 projects referred to the project monitoring group (PMG), concerns in 155 projects have been addressed. The projects that have been dealt with involve an investment of Rs 5.5 lakh crore.
The new format requires all govt dept to record dates of commission & commercial operation, physical progress on production, power output and if there are further unresolved issues.