State still awaiting clearance of Rs 1,000 cr JICA fund from centre

Chennai:

The state government is still awaiting the clearance from the union government to get Rs 1,000 crore fund from Japan International Cooperation Agency for implementation of development as well as medium term policy programmes of the Tamil Nadu government.

Speaking to Express on the sidelines of the conference on Emerging Role of PPPPs, Krishnan said the state has yet to get the clearance from Center.

Japan International Cooperation Agency, an independent government agency, has agreed to provide Rs 500 crore under Policy Implementation Component and another Rs 500 crore under the Urban Infrastructure Investment Component. The funds will be utilized for various infrastructure projects which include road widening, small bridges, distribution lines, water supply and industrial parks, and will be concentrated for the Greater Chennai Metropolitan Area.

Earlier addressing the conference, Krishnan said the state government would monitor the projects implemented under the public private initiatives to usher in transparency, efficiency and fairness, according to S Krishnan, state secretary (expenditure) finance department.

He said that under the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development act, the state has a mechanism for periodic monitoring of the projects implemented under public private partnership.

He also said the state government is bringing in a legislation where the partner is for public private initiative is identified through a bidding process besides framing rules on procurement of Public Private Partnership (PPP). This will usher in more transparency, he said.

Krishnan also stressed the need for the involvement of stakeholders in any PPP initiative. “The focus should be more on public and section 15 of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Act stresses the need for community participation,” he said.

Krishnan who is also the chief executive officer of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructre Development Board said the information about the project should be put in public domain as soon as the board recommends the project.

This will help decide whether the project is worth doing, banakable and financially viable. He said there should be a clarity in understanding on whether the project is profitable and a rigorous value for money analysis should be done.

Thangam Shankaranarayanan, chairperson and executive director of Tamil Nadu Water Investment Company highlighted about the Tirupur Water Supply and Sewerage Project, which is the first water supply project in the Public Private Partnership framework.