New Delhi: According to the Economic Survey 2023, around 8,964 projects with a total investment of over Rs 108 lakh crore are under various stages of implementation under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP). document Presented in Parliament on Tuesday.
The government had announced the NIP in 2019 with an estimated infrastructure investment of about Rs 111 lakh crore in FY 20-25, “to develop a comprehensive vision of infrastructure development in the country, with timely completion monitoring its progress at the highest level in the government, and enabling a pipeline view for investors to plan infrastructure investments”.
The Economic Survey states that a developing economy like India needs a sustained increase in infrastructure investment to sustain a high rate of growth, which is a prerequisite for achieving broader social objectives.
“The NIP includes infrastructure projects worth over ₹100 crore covering greenfield and brownfield investments. The NIP currently has 8,964 projects under various stages of implementation with a total investment of over Rs 108 lakh crore.
It added that the transport sector constitutes more than half of the projects under the NIP.
“Funding for infrastructure comes from various sources, from government to private sector to multilateral. However, given the quantum of funds involved, a creative financing option such as asset monetization through the ₹5 lakh crore National Monetization Pipeline is also envisaged was done,” the survey said.
The National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) was announced in August 2021 and seeks to tap private sector investment to build new infrastructure. The survey pointed out that it is expected that private players will operate and maintain the assets.
The NMP provides an opportunity to reduce the balance sheet and provide fiscal space for investment in new infrastructure assets. year period, from FY20-25.
Further, it clarifies that in the process of monetization, a limited period licence/lease of a property owned by the Government or a public authority is granted to a private sector entity for an advance or periodic consideration. The money received by the public authority is reinvested in new infrastructure or deployed for other public purposes.
The survey said that against the monetization target of Rs 0.9 lakh crore in FY22, Rs 0.97 lakh crore has been achieved under roads, power, coal and mines during this period. In the second year of NMP (FY23), the government has set a target of Rs 1.6 lakh crore (27 per cent of the overall NMP target) under core-asset monetisation.
“As India completes 75 years of independence, the nation is growing into a major force in the global economic order. India is the fifth largest economy in the world and the prospects for steady growth in the coming years are bright. Here, the vital role played by infrastructure in economic development cannot be overemphasized. Investing in high-quality infrastructure is key to driving economic growth and sustaining it over time.
It added that the increase in infrastructure investment provides a significant push to the potential growth of the economy. According to the survey, the government has provided an increased impetus to infrastructure development and investment through increased capital expenditure in recent years.
“The push has come at a time of crisis when capital expenditure by the private sector has been curtailed. The outlay (target) for capital expenditure in 2022-23 (Budget Estimate or BE) has been raised sharply by 35.4 per cent to Rs 7.5 lakh crore from Rs 5.5 lakh crore in the previous year (2021-22), of which about 67 per cent spent from April to December 2022,” it said.
(Editing by Anumeha Saxena)
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