Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia made a case on Wednesday for setting up a credible regulatory environment to attract funds for infrastructure development in the country.
"India can put across a regulatory environment that is credible... and put in place institutions" to channelise funds, including long-term debts, for developing projects in the infrastructure sector under the PPP mode, he said while speaking at the Fortune Global Forum in New Delhi.
Referring to the progress of the Public Private Partnership initiative of the government, he said: "We are getting response for PPP projects... but for our ambitious targets, the response has to be stronger."
There are opportunities for private sector participation in infrastructure projects, which are being developed under the PPP mode, like on roads, ports and power, Ahluwalia told global investors.
The opportunities for private sector will also be there in health and education with the government is focusing its attention on these two areas to make growth more inclusive, he said.
Alhuwalia also advised the foreign investors not to look for "clean answers" in India as the nature of decision making has become difficult.
However, he added, they should "look whether consensus is emerging... It will deliver the results."
He further said
the growth was slow when there was political stability, but has improved in the recent past despite absence of political stability.
Replying questions on public investment, Ahluwalia said growth-led tax buoyancy will help the government to earmark more resources for the infrastructure and social sector projects.
However, he added, finance ministry would not agree to sacrifice the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act targets to spur public expenditure.
Pointing out that economic reforms have resulted in "lot of gains, but everybody is not a gainer," Ahluwalia said efforts would have to made to "widen the group of gainers" by making growth more inclusive.
The average 8.5 per cent economic growth rate witnessed during the past five years, he said, has laid the foundation for a more inclusive growth which also encompasses middle class in addition to poor.
The real challenge, however, "would be to translate good economics into good politics which is not easy", he said.
Stepping agriculture growth is another challenge, he said, adding that the farm sector that has grown by less than two per cent in the past seven years showed signs of improvement last year.
"Right signals", he added, has pushed up investments in the Indian economy from 23 per cent in the past to almost 36 per cent currently.
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