PMO to Take Stock of Infrastructure Work

NEW DELHI: For the first time, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) will this week take stock of the targets set by each infrastructure ministry after the Narendra Modi government took charge. 

The Planning Commission, which has been tasked to prepare the presentation for all infrastructure sectors, has sought details from all departments. Sources said the first such umbrella meeting on targets for this financial year is crucial since the Prime Minister has already gone through individual presentations by each ministry and department. 

They added that ministries are likely to stick to their earlier targets, though a final call will be taken by PMO considering the achievable targets. 

Government officials said the road ministry is likely to submit that NHAI and the ministry would be able to award 8,500 km including 3,500 km on build, operate and transfer (BOT) mode despite the first set of three BOT projects not getting a single bidder.

All these projects — Delhi-Meerut Expressway, Varanasi-Sultanpur and Varanasi-Ghaghar bridge stretches — were cleared by the new cabinet. On the construction front, the target is likely to be 6,300km, out of which NHAI would build about 2,000km. 

Meanwhile, the PMO has also sought details of projects and programmes run by all the departments within a week.

"Though the communication does not detail the reason behind this, we feel the intention could be to get a complete picture of the activities and to find out which all have been successful and what all have failed," said a senior government official.