Mega infrastructural projects in the State will now get quicker clearance with the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board headed by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa becoming operational.
The board is being set up as part of the AIADMK Government’s ambitious Vision 2023 plan document.
An Extraordinary Gazette notification issued by the Principal Secretary (Finance Department) K Shanmugam said that the Board has come into existence from June 15. “This is one of the CM’s pet initiatives to bring all round focused development in TN. At present, several mega projects are getting stuck in red tape and it takes several months for the various departments to grant necessary clearance. The TN Infrastructure Development Board would serve as a nodal agency for infrastructure development and steer high impact projects on a ‘mission mode’ as announced in the Vision 2023 policy document,” a senior Government official said.
In fact, during her recent visit to New Delhi to meet Planning Commission officials, Jayalalithaa had argued that considering the scrutiny that the projects would face by the TN Infrastructure Development Board, there might not be any need for a parallel evaluation by the Centre for viability gap funding.
Earlier this year, when the TN Infrastructure Development Board Bill was introduced in the Assembly, Finance Minister O Panneerselvam had said that the Board would also deal with financing, design, construction, maintenance and operation of infrastructure projects through private sector participation. “One of the priorities would be to identify and remove bottlenecks in development and focus on critical projects. The Board would scrutinise all projects involving an investment of `500 crore and above which would be implemented by a public agency. Projects with a value less than `500 crore could be executed through Public Private Participation,” the official explained.
While the CM would be the Ex-Officio Chairperson of the Board, the Finance Minister would function as its Vice Chairman.