CHENNAI: In a bid to cut down on the delay in completing major infrastructure projects, the state government is mulling various interventions including creating a database of contractors.
Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan has suggested creation of a unique identifier akin to Goods and Service tax Network (GSTN) or Aadhaar database of contractors that could be used across the departments for evaluating the works taken up by the contractors. Sources said the state is looking beyond the bank guarantee for completion of projects on time.
The finance minister, while reviewing Rs 1.19 lakh crore-worth major infrastructure projects of the state, has observed the dependence on bank guarantee often seems to be not clear, and methodologies like Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority regulations should be adopted. It seems the state is also studying the guidelines issued by the Union government to understand the rating system of contractors.
The finance minister has also called for a central database of all the existing projects and list of contractors handling projects so that all departments can make use of the database. Tamil Nadu e-governance agency could be asked to design the portal.
Sources said the government is also mulling to integrate projects worth Rs 100 crore, involving all the departments, in the portal and review them accordingly. He also suggested the database on the information of national contractors also need to be updated and listed for better understanding, convergence, general performance and perception and overall project evaluation.
Thiaga Rajan also suggested the need for effective and efficient procedures to be framed for better utilisation of funds sanctioned, and completing the projects as per the schedule. The capacity of increased capital expenditure should be given due priority so as to increase the capacity of executing big key projects, which had declined during the previous years. Increased capital expenditure will result in increased capital borrowing and allow the economy to bounce back, which was lost during the years in the past due to Covid-19 and other reasons.
The government is also likely to do away with projects which are non-starters. Concerns were also raised on Udangudi Supercritical Thermal Power Project and the commissioning of the 800-MW North Chennai Thermal Power Station (NCTPS) Stage III, the work for which was supposed to be completed by 2019. The officials are now analysing and assessing announcements before they are being made officially. Similarly as a policy decision, the government is first acquiring land before starting the project, as the estimated expenditure could be maintained.
Unique identifier
Finance MinisterPalanivel Thiaga Rajan has suggested creation of a unique identifier akin to Goods and Service tax Network (GSTN) or Aadhaar database of contractors that could be used across the departments for evaluating the works taken up by the contractors. He said the state is also studying guidelines issued by the Centre to understand the rating system of contractors