With 8% growth in mind, PM reviews infra policies

Sat Sep 03 2011,
New Delhi:

Keen to break the perception of policy paralysis surrounding the UPA government, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday reviewed the performance of nine key ministries including coal, power, petroleum and steel to fast track decisions on crucial infrastructure sector issues which have held back growth in these sectors.

During the review, Singh stressed on the need to expedite work on the MMDR Bill for the mining sector so that it could be introduced in the winter session of Parliament. The Bill, which aims to make investment-friendly regulations and ensure transferability of mining-related awards, has already been cleared by a group of ministers (GoM) and is awaiting clearance from the Cabinet.

The PM has also asked the coal ministry to expedite fuel linkage for power sector projects so that rapid progress is made by the sector to bridge the demand-supply gap. The power sector is all set to miss the 11th Plan target to add 62,000 MW of capacity by a wide margin and concerns have already been expressed that unless coal linkages are expedited, the sector could see wider slippages in the 12th Plan.