Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday sought the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for the projects to be implemented under the Tamil Nadu Vision 2023 document.
Recalling the 30-year history of JICA assistance for various projects in Tamil Nadu, which include the Hogenakkal Drinking Water Project and Metro Rail Project, the Chief Minister told Akihiko Tanaka, president of the JICA who called on her at the Secretariat, that she looked forward to continued and enhanced engagement with the Japanese institution for implementing the Tamil Nadu Vision 2023, which would bring growth and prosperity to Tamil Nadu.
The JICA president affirmed that Tamil Nadu had great potential to become the hub of industrial growth in the Indian Ocean region.
He also appreciated the rapid implementation of many infrastructure projects under the leadership of Jayalalithaa and promised continued support for them.
Stating that a substantial portion of investment under the Vision 2023 was to be under the PPP mode, Jayalalithaa said in order to facilitate implementation of projects, a policy framework in the form of Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Act, Rules and Regulations was already in place, along with the Tamil Nadu Transparency in Tenders (Public Private Partnerships Procurement) Rules.
The Chief Minister pointed out that a recent United Nations Report on Probity in Public Procurement had recognised Tamil Nadu as the first State to have a legislative framework to deal with PPP procurement.
The Chief Minister requested JICA to consider assisting the Project Preparation Fund of the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board so as to help project development of bankable PPP projects.
The Chief Minister also suggested that the possibility of setting up a separate line of credit for the private partners selected for implementation of private public partnership projects in Tamil Nadu could be explored so as to support the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Fund for providing Viability Gap Funding for PPP projects and also provide long term financing directly to private sector developers to enable them to reach financial closure early.