New agency mooted to fund infrastructure plans

CHENNAI : As the State government has estimated Rs 15 lakh crore investment for infrastructure in the next 11 years under Vision 2023, plans are afoot to form a separate development agency to finance the projects.
Industry department sou-rces told Express that the plans for Tamil Nadu Investment Promotion Programme (TNIPP) to impr-ove the investment climate by strengthening the policy framework and enhancing the quality of urban infrastructure is at an initial stage.
Industry sources said neither state nor municipal budgets can fully meet the necessary investments for infrastructure development, as such a large portion of infrastructure needs to be financed by the private sector.
Currently, the private sector funding for infrastructure is only 15 per cent, and by 2023 it is expected to cross 42 per cent.  Similarly, the State’s contribution, which is 60 per cent, is expected to come down to 28 per cent, according to the Vision 2023 document.
Interestingly, private players are shying away from investing in urban infrastructure as they feel financing urban infrastructure is too risky and costly.
As such, plans are on for a development agency to make these investments bankable, by reducing costs, shouldering some of the risk and developing new financing mechanisms, sources said.
The infrastructure development work could include road widening, small bridges, distribution lines, water supply and industrial parks; and the focus will be on Greater Chennai Metropolitan Area which includes surrounding peri-urban areas.

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