Mumbai:
The government has pegged investment requirements
for the country's infrastructure sector at Rs1,450,000
crore ($320 billion) against the earlier estimate of Rs700,000
crore ($150 billion). India should double gross capital
formation in the infrastructure sector to eight per cent
by 2012 to sustain the current pace of economic growth
of over eight per cent, prime minister Manmohan Singh
said.
Emphasising
the importance of public works in speeding up economic
expansion and cutting poverty, the prime minister said
better infrastructure in neighboring China has helped
the country attract $60 billion of foreign direct investment
in 2005 alone, compared with India's $50 billion since
1991. He was inaugurating a conference on 'Building Infrastructure'
in New Delhi.
China
began opening its economy in 1978, 13 years before India,
Manmohan pointed out, adding that this country too wanted
more investments in roads, ports and factories to generate
employment, accelerate growth and improve the lives of
a third of its 1.1 billion people who live below the poverty
line.
Pegging
resource requirements for the infrastructure sector even
higher at $363 billion over the next five years, finance
minister P Chidambaram called for massive investments
by the private sector to support of the government's efforts
in this crucial area.
"India's
economy is expected to grow at rates above eight per cent
in the 11th plan," he told participants of the conference,
adding that unless investment grows at the same pace,
it would not be possible to sustain the pace of economic
growth.
``The
infrastructure deficiency is visible because of high growth,''
he said. The country, he added, can absorb as much as
$150 billion in direct investment from overseas to upgrade
its roads, ports, power plants and airports.
Chidambaram
said the rapid pace of economic growth has exposed the
infrastructure deficiencies in the country. It is particularly
obvious in congested highways, ports and airports, he
added.
Infrastructure
had long been in the domain of public sector, which resulted
in inadequate development. Hence, there was a need for
private participation in the sector. He said the country
needed investments to the tune of Rs1,100,000 crore for
infrastructure development
in the Tenth Plan alone while it would require Rs2,200,000
crore for investments in national highways, airports and
ports by the year 2012.
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