Program

Government of India has recently taken several steps to strengthen India’s federal structure in the framework of ‘Cooperative Federalism’. The State Governments are principal stakeholders and partners in Government of India’s schemes and programmes. State Governments have been taking the lead to speed up development with strong focus on infrastructure. However, States are at various levels of development and some regions lag behind on key development and infrastructure indicators.

Many State governments are pursuing transformative approaches and undertaking robust and futuristic projects in infrastructure. This spans across connectivity (road, rail, air and inland waterways development), smart cities, sanitation, logistics hubs, etc. The NITI Aayog has recently formed ‘Niti Forum for North-East’ to identify various constraints on the way of accelerated, inclusive and sustainable economic growth in the North East Region. The forum has identified focus areas for infrastructure development epitomized by the concept of "HIRA" (diamond in Hindi) which stands for Highways, Internet, Railways and Airways.

High-tech financial hubs are being established to provide enabling regulatory environment, and create an ecosystem to increase capital flows, expand domestic base of financial services, and promote talent. The Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) has been developed as a global financial and IT services hub. This is emerging as an international financial centre in India with huge potential for providing favorable regulatory regime and business environment for infrastructure financing. Earlier, establishment of software technology parks (STPs) in 1990s represented an important institutional intervention to provide infrastructure for the software industry.

The vision of modernisation and sustainability behind new capital cities, tier-2 cities, industrial towns, integrated mobility and rural infrastructure reflects potential for leapfrogging in the decades to come. The new capital city of Andhra Pradesh, Amravati has futuristic design of world class standards, cutting-edge infrastructure, and promise of comfortable and sustainable living.

Local experiences with respect to financing and implementation of infrastructure projects provide vital inputs to policymaking. Governments in different States have varied and rich experience to share with other States and stakeholders at large.

Prof. Ramkishen S. Rajan - Vice-Dean (Research) and Professor, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore

Host country: Panel Discussion with Chief Ministers on Vision of Infrastructure Development in India (June 25, 1630-1730), Tata Theatre, NCPA

Objectives

Background

Speakers: