Question : PROJECT CLEARANCE BOARD

(a) the steps taken and achievement made by the Government to prop up the economy;

(b) whether the Government has decided to set up a Project Clearance Board (PCB) to facilitate time bound approval for investment proposals in energy and infrastructure sectors and if so, the details thereof;

(c) whether the Government had instituted a system for monitoring the performance of public private projects to ensure accountability, efficiency and economy and if so, the details thereof and achievement thereon; and

(d) the other steps taken by the Government in this direction?

MINISTER OF STATE FOR FINANCE (SMT NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) to (d): Currently, there is no proposal under consideration in the Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, to set up a Project Clearance Board (PCB). However, with a view to putting in place an institutional mechanism to track stalled investment projects, both in the public and private sectors and to remove implementation bottlenecks in these projects, a Cell in the nature of Project Monitoring Group (PMG) has been set up in the Cabinet Secretariat for all large projects, both public and private. Central e-PMS , a web enabled information system has also been put in place where in an entrepreneur can provide the details of his project having investments above Rs.1000 crore along with issues that are inhibiting its smooth implementation.