Projects worth 1.4 lakh crores pending, Prime Minister calls meet on Wednesday

New Delhi: With projects worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore pending, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called a meeting on Wednesday to review the status of infrastructure sector with an aim of pushing the slowing growth.

The meeting, which will be attended by ministers of all infrastructure-related ministries, is expected to assess whether the targets are being met and what needs to be done to address bottlenecks, sources said in New Delhi on Monday.

The government has maintained that $ 1 trillion would be required in the infrastructure sector during the 12th Plan (2012-17) of which it expects 50 per cent from private sector.

Projects worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore are pending in the sectors of power, steel, highways and cement.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of economic growth falling to nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12 and contraction of industrial output in March quarter.

According to Finance Ministry documents, projects worth Rs 1.46 lakh crore are pending because of absence of regulatory clearances. These are in the sectors of power, steel, highways and cement.

These projects are besides the mega projects like $ 12 billion Posco steel project and $ 90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor, which are also delayed on various counts like clearances and land acquisition.

The meeting comes close on the heels of the decision by the Prime Minister to set up Investment Tracking System to monitor the status of projects of Rs 1,000 crore and above.

The government also set up on Sunday a high-level inter-ministerial board under Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to boost the manufacturing sector.

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