NEW DELHI, FEB 5: The Union cabinet has decided to hand over all incomplete public sector projects, in which 30 per cent of the total allocated funds have already been spent and 80 per cent of the gestation period is over, to the private or the joint sector. The more unviable of these projects should be axed.The cabinet secretariat last week wrote to all government departments of the cabinet's decision. An empowered committee has been set up to review all such projects. The committee will be headed by the member secretary of the Planning Commission. The modalities of hawking these projects to the private sector, by way of full or partial ownership, will be worked out later.
The cabinet secretariat has ordered all government ministries, in consultation with the programme implementation department, to prepare a list of such projects, under the new time and cost overrun parameters. The member-secretary Planning Commission will then convene a meeting of the empowered committee and recommend the units forprivatisation or for co-option of private equity to the Union cabinet.
The new yardstick for privatisation will, however, not exclude the empowered committee to take up other incomplete public projects which do not fit into the norms laid down by the cabinet. Projects which have been stuck due to delays in land acquisition and environment clearances should also be taken up by the committee.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
