In an attempt to facilitate and attract more investments in the infrastructure sector, the State Government is mulling to set up a much-needed Public Investment Board (PIB) in the State.
While Chief Secretary JK Mohapatra has already hinted at steps to attract more public investment in this sector, Development Commissioner Injeti Srinivas is working out modalities for such a single-window authority against the backdrop of the tangled web of hassles and permissions required for a project.
For example, over 65 clearances are required for a thermal power project at three different levels, the Centre, State and district. This is the maze that PIB would have to deal with to get the economy going, feels Srinivas, who is upbeat about more investments in the infrastructure sector in the State.
Major projects relating to road, power, rural connectivity, health and other social sector infrastructures would be undertaken by the PIB. The Chief Secretary has highlighted infrastructure as one of the priority areas, which includes doubling the State Highways of 2,000-km span, completion of 600 rural bridges, irrigation facilities for 6 lakh hectares of land and establishment of two supercritical power projects on part of the State.
Similarly, the National Highway projects, creation of at least two ports, expediting railways projects like Angul-Sukinda, Hadidaspur-Paradip and Khurda-Balangir rail lines can be taken care by the PIB, feel experts at the Government level.
Not only would the PIB act as a single-window clearance authority but also ensure successful completion of these projects, for which one must look at forward and backward linkages of the project lifecycle. Again, once the project is in the implementation mode, it is important to have a proper monitoring mechanism in place to ensure that all the conditions attached to project approval are followed.
While the Department of Planning and Coordination (DoPC) has decided to monitor the progress of the projects worth above Rs 10 crore regularly, the Project Management Information System (PMIS) would be provided the latest data on the progress of the major projects every month, said sources close to the Development Commissioner.
And as a new initiative, the Government is planning to seek support of a strategic partner like the CMIE to look into the problems being faced by the State, hampering the development of the economy, said sources.
Similarly, the State Government is also consulting on the Govindrajan Committee Report to create and put in place an appropriate system to resolve investment-related problems.
In view of this, the State Government has laid thrust on providing a conducive and hassle-free investment environment through these initiatives to put the growth of the State on a fast track, said an official.