This Article is From Jun 06, 2012

Manmohan Singh to meet infrastructure-related ministries to review status of projects

Manmohan Singh to meet infrastructure-related ministries to review status of projects
New Delhi: With projects worth Rs. 1.46 lakh crore pending, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has called a meeting today of all infrastructure-related ministries to review the status of infrastructure sector with an aim of pushing the slowing growth.

Sources say, the meeting will be attended by ministers of those ministries is expected to assess whether the targets are being met and what needs to be done to address bottlenecks.

The meeting assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of economic growth falling to nine-year low of 6.5 per cent in 2011-12 and contraction of industrial output in March quarter.

According to Finance Ministry documents, projects worth Rs. 1.46 lakh crore are pending because of absence of regulatory clearances. These are in the sectors of power, steel, highways and cement.

The meeting comes close on the heels of the decision by the Prime Minister to set up Investment Tracking System to monitor the status of projects of Rs. 1,000 crore and above.

Last week, the government also set up a high-level inter-ministerial board under Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma to boost the manufacturing sector.

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