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Ministerial group to push projects

P Vaidyanathan Iyer

The Centre is planning to set up an inter-ministerial group to ensure big projects take off speedily.

The proposal is part of the government's measures to eliminate the regulatory obstacles in the way of implementation of projects. It is also exploring the option of forming an expert body under the Planning Commission for project appraisals.

Senior government officials told Business Standard that the move followed the strategies suggested by global consultant McKinsey & Co in its report submitted to the Prime Minister's Office recently.

The Centre had asked McKinsey to recommend measures for overhauling the upstream and downstream regulatory framework in a bid to attract more foreign direct investment into the country.

Officials said McKinsey has completed a part of its mandate of looking into the upstream regulatory issues.

The consultant has defined upstream issues as those relating to the appraisal, review, sanctions, implementation and monitoring of Central government projects. The downstream issues cover the regulatory regime overseeing the government, public enterprises as well as the private sector.

McKinsey, officials said, had recommended a four-pronged strategy to ensure quick and efficient implementation of government projects.

The consultant has said an expert body be set up to assist in the appraisal of projects. Officials felt the body could be set up under the Planning Commission. It would be well equipped to undertake a comprehensive economic, financial and environmental analysis of the projects.

McKinsey has also recommended forming an inter-ministerial group to coordinate among various ministries to facilitate speedy implementation of key projects.

The group could also review the projects approved by the administrative ministries concerned. It has also suggested various administration measures like performance appraisals, etc for sprucing up personal administration in government offices.

Officials said not all the recommendations of McKinsey & Co were practical in the immediate time frame.

However, decision on the suggestions on upstream regulatory issues would be taken soon so that public investment by the government actually picked pace without time and cost overruns, they added.

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