The Prime Minister’s pep-talk to industrialists this week was an effort to brighten their mood of despondency. Maybe it was needed, but it would have some strength behind it if he could follow up with visible and immediate action.
True, as he said, the Cabinet Committee on Investment had cleared five of 40 oil blocks and would clear 31 blocks within two weeks, had fast-tracked 12 coal-mining projects and would solve the fuel supply problem in three weeks. It would be good if this schedule were maintained. But considering that over 250 major projects have been awaiting decisions for years, the CCI should work with greater urgency. These projects entail investment worth `4,62,156 crore. The most delays are in the roads and highways sector, then power and railways.
The PM spoke about “bureaucratic inertia” and corruption as two major problems. The issues deserve to be looked into if projects are to take off. Communications minister Kapil Sibal has said that he, like the bureaucrats, would be worried to take decisions if five years later the courts would interpret the decisions differently and jail them. This is not the whole truth. In the 2G case, for instance, there was an uproar when the decision was taken during Mr A. Raja’s time, and, had the government acted with alacrity, it would not have had to face the courts.