Infrastructure will be DNA-Zee 24 Taas Summit’s talking point

From the flurry of announcements one has seen over the last few years, Maharashtra is the favoured destination for infrastructure investment.

A dedicated freight corridor between Mumbai and Delhi; a new international airport at Navi Mumbai; special funding for Mumbai urban transport projects; metro and monorail investments for Mumbai, with the first phase of the former (Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar) scheduled for completion by 2011; development of Nagpur as a base for maintenance, repair and overhaul of Boeing aircraft.

The list goes on. So do the delays. There’s a gap between investment intentions, getting projects off the ground and their completion on time. According to a study carried out last year by Deloitte and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Maharashtra, despite receiving a higher number of investment proposals, lags behind Gujarat in terms of the actual implementation of proposals.

Is there a way to quicken infrastructural developments in Maharashtra? The State Summit organised by DNA and Zee 24 Taas on July 9-10 will seek to find workable answers to this question. Typical of the issues coming up are those spelt out by Dr PC Sehgal, managing director of the Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) and a panelist at the State Summit on Infrastructure.

Set up to implement railway projects worth Rs 10,000 crore in Mumbai with World Bank assistance, MRVC — a joint venture between the railway ministry and the Maharashtra government — has to deal with 40 different agencies like customs, excise, traffic police, and the railway safety board before any decision gets implemented.

“A delay by one agency to give its nod means inadvertent delay. With so many stakeholders, I would surely like better coordination between different agencies. Being a brownfield project, we cannot afford to disturb the existing system if it involves, for example, laying new tracks,’’ says Sehgal.

He could get some useful answers to his dilemma from his co-panelists, who include BJP president Nitin Gadkari, architect of the Mumbai flyover plan during the Sena-BJP regime, Lalit Jalan of Reliance Infrastructure, K Venkatesh of Larsen & Toubro, SVR Srinivas, additional Metropolitan Commissioner, MMRDA, and Vinayak Mavinkurve of IDFC.

Sehgal’s problem are typical of almost all transport projects in the metros. “The British introduced electricity-based suburban trains in Mumbai in 1925. The abnormal increase in population and growth of suburban traffic is leading to extensive overloading where a nine-car rake carries 5,000 passengers as against a capacity of 1,800. In addition, encroachment on railway land is making it difficult for the railways to construct new lines,’’ rues Sehgal.

Land acquisition is sure to emerge as a major discussion point at the Summit. But many other issues remain. With governments finding it increasingly difficult to finance mega infrastructure projects, how can public-private participation be given a boost? Should there be more flyovers? Should there be new levies and charges on big construction schemes and, possibly, on users of new metro and mono rail projects.

Given the fast growth in vehicular traffic, should the government introduce curbs on vehicles entering the main business district as in London? Or should it impose a huge levy on anyone purchasing a new car, as is done in Singapore?

The Maharashtra government is still debating options. Keen on changing Mumbai’s image, it has decided to create a Mumbai Development Fund (MDF) to finance mega infrastructure projects in the city. Though undecided on end-user levies, it wants to charge a premium for the grant of additional FSI (floor-space index) and TDR (transfer of development rights). But can the realty sector bear so many additional levies, when home prices are already skyhigh?

Charging the public for betterment of an area could be problematic. “Most of the urban development schemes are managed by municipalities currently because the public-private partnership model has not taken off. People have a problem in paying for services,” said a senior official at a public sector bank who is in charge of infrastructure finance. “It is only when people see the benefits that they come in to pay,” he said.