According to managing director Nasser Munjee, IDFC is all set to take off in its third full year of operations having set a target of Rs 2,000 crore for disbursements for 2000-2001.

Talking to press persons in Chennai on IDFC's working and outlook, Munjee said in the current fiscal disbursements earmarked for telecom and roads sector will amount to Rs 850 crore. The rest will be distributed among power projects and other infrastructure areas like ports and urban infrastructure, environment management, water management etc.

The IDFC chief executive said that policy initiatives in telecom and roads sector have shown much headway. In telecom the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has begun functioning and clarity has emerged in telecom policy. There is consolidation taking place now with a lot of mergers and acquisitions and eventually five or six key players will emerge who will initiate long-term investments and undertake major projects.

IDFC has been a part of the policy group on the Prime Minister's taskforce set up for infrastructure projects. It has associated with National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) mandated to implement National Highway Development Project- four/six laning of the Golden Quadrilateral (5952 kms) and North-South and East-West corridors.

NHAI has begun upgradation of national highways, Munjee said, and for the 65 kms long stretch national highway in Durgapur six international firms and two local firms have given their bids which will be evaluated soon. The new thinking in the sector is that both construction and maintenance should be handled by one contractor so that there is more responsibility.

But Nasser Munjee is cautious about power project funding and warned that unless clear and transparent policies are in place many private independent power producers may pull out of the country. Reforms are ongoing but unfortunately implementation is lackadaisical. Munjee said the bankrupt state electricity boards must reconsider their monopoly position in the power sector and agree for pirvatisation of transmission and distribution.Without these reforms in place the foreign investors will not be willing to come and set up plants here. Although 15 IPPs had tied up funds and were expected to achieve financial closure by March end 2000, only three IPPs did in fact achieve financial closures. The roadblocks to forward movement in the power sector should be removed quickly, Munjee argued.

IDFC is taking new initiatives in areas like urban infrastructure, transport logistics, water and environment management. In future the company will look at agri-infrastructure. Also it is to make investments in internet infrastructure and is looking at broadband backbones to tap the huge potential.

IDFC approved financial assistance to 20 projects aggregating Rs 1866 crore during 1999-2000. Disbursements were Rs 642 crore. Up to March 31, 2000, cumulatively IDFC approvals for energy for 17 projects amounted to Rs 2614 crore i.e. accounting for 68.02 per cent of total.