a) whether the Government is aware that slow pace of infrastructure projects is one of the major reasons for slowdown in economic growth;
b) if so, the details thereof along with the number of projects not being implemented due to shortage of funds;
c) whether the Government has prepared action plan to earmark more funds for these projects in order to complete projects in a time bound manner; and
d) the steps taken by the Government to expedite the work stalled major infrastructure projects?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF FINANCE
(SHRI ARJUN RAM MEGHWAL)
(a) to (d): Economic growth depends upon various factors including provision of adequate infrastructure. There are 1186 on-going central sector infrastructure projects with sanctioned cost of Rs 14,60,100 crore, as on 31.12.2016. As per the Flash Report – December, 2016 (for projects of the cost Rs 150 crore and above) of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, 12 Projects with an anticipated cost of Rs 21426.32 crore are delayed, amongst others, due to shortage of funds/ delay in release of funds. Review of delayed projects is made periodically by Project Authorities and corrective action including allocation of additional funds is taken if warranted. Further, with a view to putting in place an institutional mechanism to track stalled investment projects, both in the public and private sectors involving investment of Rs.1000 crore or more, or any other critical projects in sectors such as infrastructure, manufacturing, etc., a Cell called the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) has been set up in Prime Minister’s Office. At present, PMG is facilitating resolutions of 632 issues in 251 projects with estimated investment of more than Rs 10,64,000 crore. Government has taken various steps to ensure timely completion of projects such as rigorous project appraisal, on line computerized monitoring system (OCMS) for better monitoring, setting up of standing committees in the Ministries for fixation of responsibilities, and setting up of Central Sector Project Coordination Committees (CSPCCs) in states under Chief Secretaries for removal of bottlenecks and for facilitating and speedy implementation of major projects.
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