Enthused by the initial success of the Cabinet Committee on Investment and project monitoring group in facilitating clearances for large projects, India Inc has sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s intervention in bringing under clearance ambit projects worth Rs 500 crore and above. Currently, CCI and PMG try to resolve issues being faced by projects worth Rs 1,000 crore and more.
The Confederation of Indian Industry has also written to state chief ministers, requesting them to set up PMG-like bodies at the state level for fast-tracking clearances for smaller projects.
While endorsing that the CCI and PMG have been playing an “exemplary” role in speeding up clearances, leading industry chambers are now parleying for a tweak in the policies so that more projects can be cleared and processes simplified.
In a letter to PM, CII president S Gopalakrishnan said “industry is keen that this model be extended to projects, which are of Rs 500 crore and above as well.”
“The tepid investment demand in the country is not a reflection of investor sentiments. A large number of projects, which were planned, have been stalled owing to a number of clearances and approvals being held back by various arms of the government and in some instances the respective state governments,” CII said in the letter reviewed by FE.
Since June, about 400 stalled projects worth Rs 1,000 crore and above have come to the CCI and PMG. Of these, CCI, CCEA and PMG have in total facilitated clearances for about 120 projects, mostly of power producers, entailing investments of Rs 4 lakh crore. Half of the these investments are believed to have materialised already.
