PPP restructuring urgent, says Kant

India will need around US$4.5 trillion till 2040 for infrastructure development and restructure its Public Private Partnership (PPP) framework, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said.

There is an urgent need to restructure the entire existing PPP framework as there are delays in completion of projects due to disputes.

“India needs to spend close to US$4.5 trillion till 2040 to develop infrastructure in order to really support overall economic growth,” he said at an event organized by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) on 31 Oct 2018.

He noted that it was better to create infrastructure initially through the government spending,but the government must get out of the completed projects soonest as it is “extremely poor at operating and maintaining infrastructure projects”.

With the economic growth set at 7.5% per annum and challenge to grow at higher rates, there is a need to focus on building quality infrastructure, he stressed.

Kant also conceded that there is a pressing need for leveraging alternate and new source of financing India’s infrastructure projects. fiinews.com