Rs 40,000 cr projects in South stuck for want of clearances: FM
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday expressed concern over the delays in the grant of various clearances for large infrastructure projects worth Rs 39,424 crore in the southern region, which he said endangers their viability.
"It has come to my notice that in the southern region, 14 projects with a total investment of Rs 39,424 crore are pending for want of various approvals," Mukherjee said at a meeting with chief ministers of South Zone states and Union Territories and the CEOs of public sector banks and financial institutions here.
He requested the chief ministers to pay personal attention to the issue and review the status of large projects that are pending for want of water, electricity, land and state-level environmental clearances, among other approvals.
"The CMDs of PSBs have been advised to approach the state governments for expediting the approvals in projects financed by them," he added.
Inordinate delays in the grant of approvals at the central or state level results in cost and time overruns, thereby endangering the viability of the projects and "locking the bank money", Mukherjee pointed out.
"The risk of the loans sanctioned/disbursed by the banks turning into non-performing assets is also significantly enhanced," he observed, adding that he has already reviewed the status of pending proposals with the concerned central ministers twice with a view to expedite such approvals.
"I have requested the ministers to give the clearances within a specific timeframe," he said at the meeting attended by Chief Ministers D. V. Sadananda Gowda (Karnataka), N. Kiran Kumar Reddy (Andhra Pradesh), Oommen Chandy (Kerala), N. Rangasamy (Puducherry), Tamil Nadu Finance Minister O. Panneerselvam and top officials from the Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep.
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