States seeks Central aid on clearing stalled projects By Shutapa Paul Story Dated: Thursday, March 20, 2014 There is little cheer for the UPA-II nowadays with the opposition drilling holes at most of its endeavours. However, the body set up to facilitate the clearance of stalled projects seems to be actually covering lost ground. The Project Monitoring Group (PMG) headed by Additional Secretary Anil Swarup has received requests from at least 13 states to set up similar panels at the state-level for projects below Rs 1,000 crore. Interestingly, the states that have shown an interest have cut across party lines and political hues. Gujarat, Kerala, Assam, Rajasthan, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra have approached the PMG to set up state-level project clearance facilitators. The Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been working to expedite stalled projects worth over Rs 1,000 crore. The panel, which was constituted in January last year, has been clearing projects with the assistance of the PMG. “Six states—Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Maharastra, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat and Kerala—which had sent teams for training in software,” said Swarup. The CCI has so far cleared 147 projects worth over Rs 5.46 lakh crore. The replacement of Union Environment and Forest Minister Jayanthi Natarajan came as a shot in the arm for the PMG. After Veerappa Moily took over from Natarajan, the PMG could get environment nods for 16 projects worth Rs 1.59 lakh crore in January and February alone. Business chambers have also written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh appreciating the efforts of the CCI and PMG in particular. “The PMG has been playing an exemplary role in getting the necessary approvals for projects that have been stalled. The PMG has been discussing with relevant Union ministries and also with the state governments,” Kris Gopalakrishnan, CII president said in his letter to the PM in December. Industry leaders have also urged the government to reduce the investment cap of projects being handled by the PMG from Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 100 crore in order to provide an impetus to manufacturing. “A large number of manufacturing projects that have the potential to provide significant employment entail an investment of Rs 100 crore to Rs 1,000 crore…These relatively smaller projects also face similar issues in clearances as being faced by large projects,” FICCI General Secretary A. Didar Singh wrote to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) in February. “…At least for manufacturing sector, PMG help could be sought even for projects between Rs 100 crore and Rs 1,000 crore.”
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 07:28:57 +0000
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