Private
Sector in Infrastructure ?
Business
Line ( 27 July ) carries a report titled :
“
Niti Aayog Chief says , govt should exit infra , jails , schools “
At
a summit organized by FICCI , Shri
Amitabh Kant ( CEO – Niti
Aayog ) said :
“
The government has done a lot of big projects but it is not good at operation
and maintenance . Therefore , the government must start the process of Reverse BOT ( build , operate and transfer ), must sell out projects and let the private
sector handle it
We
must bring in the private sector
That
is the fastest way to bring in private sector and bring private sector money
back in infrastructure . These projects are fully de-risked
The
country needs to move into new areas of PPP
There
is no need where jails , schools , colleges should be run in government sector
. At least experience of many countries like Canada and Australia shows that
private sector is capable of doing very good work in creation of quality
infrastructure “
Dear
Shri Amitabh Kant :
There
is no doubt that India’s private sector players would welcome such a move on
part of the governments ( Central + States )
Private
sector is better at delivery because it is driven by PROFIT MOTIVE ( - not
expected of the governments ) and its officers are subject to INSTANT SACKING ,
if they fail to make profit ( unlike government servants who enjoy life-time
job security , no matter , how much losses the projects make )
Even
leaving aside jails / schools / colleges , India needs $ 1000 BILLIONS in the
next 10 years , just for Railways / Roads / Ports / Airports / Renewable Power
/ Electric Cars ( to replace
200 million petrol / diesel cars by 2030 ) / Internet Broadband / Airlines etc
Shri
Dharmendra Pradhan says , petroleum sector alone needs $ 300 BILLION over the
next 10 years
And
you have just cleared 6 proposals involving Mass Rapid Transportation
Technologies , such as Hyperloop , Metrino, Pod Taxies , Stadler buses , Hybrid
buses and Freight Rail Road, with a condition that the Transport Ministry
conducts trial run of all these technologies ( - under experimentation even in
advanced economies )
From
where will Transport Ministry find funds for these “ Unproven “ systems , requiring thousands of crores of
rupees , and little assurance for “ Profits “ ?
Then
there are NPAs ( valued at Rs 10
lakh*crore , in Coal based
power plants / Telecom etc ), haunting the banks !
Banks
reeling under these NPAs , are unwilling to lend for :
· Untried / Untested / Un-proven
technologies ( even in other countries )
· Restarting of hundreds of “ Stalled “
projects
· Take over by the private sector of Govt
projects ( divestment ) , with accumulated losses of thousands of crores ,
making “ Reverse BOT “ , a difficult proposition ( even if government writes of
debt and give VRS to employees )
No
wonder , Shri Arun Jaitleyji is complaining that the Private Sector is not
investing enough in the Infrastructure Projects
Given
this non availability of “ LOW COST
/ LOW RISK “ funds , I have
serious doubts that our Infrastructure could witness a quantum jump , any time
soon !
The
only way out is :
AMNESTY
SCHEME for investment of BLACK MONEY in INFRASTRUCTURE
SPVs
Here
is a hint on how India can raise that $ 1000 Billion for Infrastructure :
(
Source :
Indonesia Passes Law to
Chase Tax Evaders Overseas
Indonesia moved a step closer to hunting
down tens of billions of dollars it believes its citizens have hidden abroad
after political parties agreed to seek a parliamentary approval for a law that
will give tax officials access to financial data held by other countries.
A meeting of various political parties
on Wednesday agreed to seek the parliament approval to turn an emergency rule in lieu of law, known as perpu, into a law at a plenary session on Thursday, said Johnny G.
Plate, a lawmaker and member of Commission XI.
The law will fulfill a requirement for
Indonesia to participate under the Organisation for Economic Co-operation
and Development’s Automatic Exchange of Information framework.
The law will pave the way for Southeast
Asia’s biggest economy to ramp up tax collection by getting better access to
information on any assets parked in jurisdictions such as Singapore and Hong
Kong.
Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati has estimated another 185 trillion
rupiah ( = $ 14 Billion ) in tax revenue could be unlocked
under the AEOI framework.
Indonesia, which has a poor tax
collection rate, has been facing a fiscal shortfall andneeds to shore up revenue to fund an ambitious
infrastructure program.
It is time to look at my proposal from
an “ POVERTY
ALLEVIATION through JOB GENERATION “ angle rather than a MORAL issue ( -
rewarding dishonest tax-evaders and punishing the honest tax-payers )
29 July 2017
www.hemenparekh.in / blogs
With Regards,
hemen
parekh
(
M ) +91 - 98,67,55,08,08
