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Advani to monitor core sector projects

P Vaidyanathan Iyer in New Delhi

The influence of L K Advani on the economic affairs of the country has grown with the Deputy Prime Minister set to take stock of the progress made by various ministries in centrally-funded projects entailing investment of over Rs 1 billion.

According to government officials, the review of projects that mandate priority treatment normally comes under the purview of the ministry of programme implementation.

Advani, who is a member of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Reforms, will shortly be given a progress report about the various ministries' performance in executing the projects.

Cabinet secretary T R Prasad shortlisted 80-odd projects last year, for which the government would endeavour to expedite implementation by removing inter-ministerial hurdles. These projects aimed at pump-priming the economy, besides facilitating capital formation in physical infrastructure like roads, railways, power and ports.

Officials said Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was supposed to be presented with the status report. The Committee of Secretaries, which met on Friday to clear the reforms agenda for the current fiscal, also took on board the progress of the last-mile projects.

It has been observed that none of the projects was delayed because of inter-ministerial obstacles. Funding for the projects would be readily available during this fiscal, the officials said. Advani, they said, would be apprised of the progress of the administrative ministries in pushing reforms and ensuring timely completion of the projects.

Advani's interest in economic affairs is significant. It might be noted that there was a move to beef up his office after Advani's appointment as deputy prime minister.

The reforms agenda for 2002-03, which was approved by the Committee of Secretaries after discussions with the ministries concerned, covers a gamut of areas from the revamp of the minimum support price, the public distribution system and the procurement regime to setting up an institutional mechanism for independent, expert investigations into complaints relating to public sector financial institutions, revising the foreign direct investment policy and overhauling the procedures for clearances.

Officials said while the 80-odd projects to be reviewed pertained only to the infrastructure sector, there would be a separate review meeting for social infrastructure projects. With private investment unlikely to grow significantly in the next two years, the government intends to spend more public money to induce demand in the economy.

After the prime minister's economic advisory council meeting early this month, Vajpayee specifically said the government would take the responsibility for investment in physical and social infrastructure. The pump-priming would also be through direct lending to states for road and irrigation projects, officials said.

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