What is National Infrastructure Pipeline?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day speech had said that Rs 100 lakh crore would be invested on infrastructure over the next five years. These will include social and economic infrastructure projects.
To implement an infrastructure program of this scale, it is important that projects are adequately prepared and launched, NIP will provide a forward-looking policy and program in this regard. NIP will be complemented by an annual infrastructure pipeline.
To achieve this a Task force was constituted to draw up a National Infrastructure Pipeline for each of the years from FY 2019-20 to FY 2024-25.
NIP will include:
1. Annual infrastructure investment/capital costs,
2. Sectoral break up of proposed investment
3. Guide to ministries in identifying appropriate sources of financing and suggest measures to monitor the projects to minimize cost and time overruns.
What is need of NIP?
To achieve the GDP of $5 trillion by 2024-25, India needs to spend about $1.4 trillion (Rs. 100 lakh crore) over these years on infrastructure. In the past decade (FY 2008-17), India invested about $1.1 trillion on infrastructure. The challenge is to step-up annual infrastructure investment so that lack of infrastructure does not become a binding constraint on the growth of the Indian economy.
NIP will enable a forward outlook on infrastructure projects which will create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, thereby making growth more inclusive. NIP includes economic and social infrastructure projects. The identified projects in NIP are mainly in the fields of power, railways, urban irrigation, mobility, education and health.
Proposed Rs 102 lakh crore National Infrastructure Projects (NIP) will help make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025. Infrastructure is a focus area for the government. This is the first time that we will have an infra pipeline. The finance ministry informed that the Centre’s share will be 39%, states share 39% of the NIP investments. The private sector will get around 22 percent of the NIP mechanism, which will be increased to 30% by 2025.