A partnership approach for infrastructure development in India

India is one of the fastest growing economics with the second largest population in the world. Infrastructure bottlenecks and structural impediments have prevented the Indian economy from taking full advantage of liberalised and globalised economic environment. Transport infrastructure like road and rail plays a critical role in contributing to the sustainable economic growth and development of a country and overall smooth functioning of the economy, mobilising goods and people, reducing costs for producers and consumers, and attracting foreign direct investment. Since the 1991 Rao Government's economic reform package of liberalisation and deregulation, India's transport system has been opened up to competition, encouraging private sector participation to finance infrastructure facilities in order to overcome public sector fiscal constraints. Public Private Partnership (PPP) or Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) as adopted by developed countries can be adopted in India, to help to bridge the resource constraint gap and improve the overall operation, maintenance, managerial efficiency and service delivery of transport infrastructure, to meet the economic growth target of 8-9 percent, and play a positive developmental role.