April 24, 2014

In the past 10 months, 81 power projects, worth Rs 3.2 lakh crore, have taken off and seen actual investment on the ground, show data available with the central secretariat’s project monitoring group (PMG). Now, the group is planning to facilitate investments in 212 additional projects, worth Rs 10.57 lakh crore.

No action is expected to be taken in the case of 58 projects (worth Rs 4.5 lakh crore), which have been held up due to litigation.

During the past 10 months, the power sector alone contributed to 98 per cent of the actual investment of Rs 3.35 lakh crore into the economy; the rest was accounted for by the coal and petroleum sectors. Actual investments in the petroleum sector stood at Rs 2,634.14 crore, while for the coal sector, it was Rs 9,732.34 crore.

Currently, the PMG has data on 113 of the 153 projects it helped clear in the past 10 months. So far, Rs 3.25 lakh crore has been invested in projects, against the planned investment of Rs 3.66 lakh crore.

Since its inception in June 2013, the PMG has helped clear 153 projects, worth Rs 5.2 lakh crore. As of April, the overall value of projects before the PMG stands at Rs 21.63 lakh crore.

The PMG was set up last year by the prime minister to monitor and fast-track clearances for infrastructure projects that required investment exceeding Rs 1,000 crore. While the group has facilitated clearances to 91 projects in the power sector so far, it has also been able to fast-track investments in seven road projects and six shipping projects. Projects worth Rs 9.3 lakh crore in the power sector are before the PMG; steel projects worth Rs 4.9 lakh crore are pending with it.