Road Ministry and Planning Commission- Differences come to light for pre-appraisal meetings
There are differences spurring up between the ministry of road transport and highways and the Planning Commission over the appraisal procedures. The last pre-appraisal meeting for public-private partnership (PPP) which was called by Gajendra Haldea, the adviser to the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission on May 30 was not attended by the ministry.
Mr R.P. Singh, the chairman of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had requested road secretary Mr Vijay Chhibber five months back to tell the Planning Commission to discontinue pre-appraisal meetings for the PPP road projects. The ministry officials who have been attending these meetings have been complaining that the nature of discussion is often repetitive or fault finding in nature which adds very little value to the projects. Hence Singh feels that they are a sheer waste of time and resources and the ministry officials have decided to refrain from these meetings.
Planning Commission representatives are a part of the regular appraisal process in which the PPP approval committee (PPPAC) approves the PPP projects and the external finance committee approves the public funded projects. NHAI’s Chairman R.P. Singh, in the letter he had written to the road secretary in January this year that while a single pre-appraisal meeting with all the members of the PPPAC may be convened to clarify issues, however multiple pre-appraisal meetings only add to the delay in decision making and approvals.
Source- Mint
National Planning Commission, Planning Commission, road ministry, Road Ministry and Planning Commission, survey by Planning Commission
