Penalty levied for delays in PPP projects should not be restricted to private player alone: Goyal

Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy Piyush Goyal has said that the entire Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) framework needs to be reoriented in order to make it more investor-friendly. He also suggested that the penalty levied for delay in projects coming up in PPP model should not just be restricted to the private party. He said that the success of the PPP models rests on the commitment of both the partners, the government and the private sector, and penalty should be a two-sided affair in PPP model, as partnership means sharing the fruits of development and the losses.

Goyal said that one must not forget to address the delays in providing the utilities which are necessary for the success of any project. He said that if India has to develop at the kind of pace that it is expected and provide bare necessities to its people by 2022 then clearly the PPP model is unavoidable. He further said that the PPP model will be the engine of growth in infrastructure sector and together “we will have to evolve the right regulatory framework which should be simple and predictable.”

To fast-track implementation of infrastructure projects, Goyal said that it is very important to screen the projects before the bidding process. The Government of India is mulling bringing out policy amendments under which those possessing less than 80% of land would not be eligible for bidding. This would help filter the applications at the first stage and save time and energy in swift execution.