Let us face it – our infrastructure, especially in our cities, is in a big mess. And it has gone messier by the day. The need for infrastructure in a vast country like India is huge; a very high level of investment is required in this area. Infrastructure is a vital component of the success of any city or country. Economies that have successfully delivered infrastructure have prospered & flourished, making their citizens happy, while those who have not done so have not been able to realise their potential and consequently been unable to improve the quality of life of their people. Thus, how, when, where and how much infrastructure is delivered is a key policy area for any govt. Let us take up Delhi as an example. Here are a few vital areas that need to looked into urgently - and preferably innovatively. The issues – in most facilities - relate to poor planning, design and maintenance, an inefficient operation and even thefts:
- Perennial shortage of Water & Electricity.
- Huge traffic jams at most of the vital traffic corridors.
- Inadequate parking spaces in residential, retail, commercial, industrial & institutional areas.
- Huge deficit in number and quality of social infrastructure – like community centres, govt. schools, hospitals and facilities for old persons.
- Poor state of roads, walkways, drainage, sewer lines and garbage.
Since a lack of adequate funds is also often a ready excuse for these inadequacies, it is time the Govt. effectively embraces and promotes the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model. It is important to tap multiple sources for the vast resources that would be needed by us as we develop. One major benefit of PPP is that the govt. would get the benefit of private sector technology, enterprise and expertise (apart from investment). This would help improve the efficiency & quality of the projects. Tapping private sector capital through a PPP model also enables the govt. to budget its resources better and share the performance risks with the private sector. This model is being/has been extensively adopted in many countries. In the Philippines the government has partnered with ADB to set up a PPP Centre to administer & award PPP projects. The Centre`s comprehensive website provides detailed information about the projects (current and proposed), a list of interested private sector companies & the experiences of various stakeholders in the many projects that have executed or are under execution. Late last year Indonesia`s Ministry of National Development Planning issued a PPP Handbook, outlining 27 potential projects with a combined estimated cost of US 48 billion dollars. In Singapore, the PPP model has been used for the water sector for more than a decade – involving cleaning, desalination, procurement etc. Of late, Singapore has used the PPP model for its prestigious infrastructure project – the Singapore Sports Hub. The private Sports Hub consortium has signed a 25 years contract with (the govt’s.) Sports Singapore, to design, build, finance & operate the sports complex.
In India we must create a sound legal & regulatory framework for the PPP model. Besides, it is imperative that every govt. agency undertaking a PPP project should critically assess the risk profile of each project as well as its proposed industry partner(s). The processes need to be clear, transparent & understood by all; the teams on both sides need to accept full accountability. Further, the govt. officers must understand very clearly that they are equal partners & not carry over any ‘officer-contractor’ mindsets. The Delhi govt. could immediately pilot 2 PPP projects: first, for the construction of underground & multi-storeyed parking lots in various areas of Delhi; the second, for running the Sports complexes that were constructed for the last Commonwealth games. It is heartening to note that the PPP model has been extensively recommended in the recent Rail Budget. Emulating the Best Practices of other countries will help us save time and money, as well as be more effective. Organising multiple workshops & conferences will not help us move forward much. The emphasis should be on getting PPP implemented urgently and effectively.
Senior Fellow, Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi
Ex-Chief Engineer (Civil), NDMC Director, Giraffe Heroes India Program
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