Universal availability of broadband services, greater Internet spread and a reliable rural telecom will be the focus of the new government’s recently-formed 11-member Committee on Infrastructure. To begin with, the panel will also concentrate on improving railways, roads, energy availability and modernisation of Delhi and Mumbai airports to world-class standards within a set timeframe. Though its objectives talk of ‘‘developing structures that maximise the role of public-private partnerships in the field of infrastructure’’, the panel does not include any member from the private sector. Chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, it will comprise ministers of railways, finance, road transport, power, petroleum, communications, civil aviation, and two members from the Planning Commission. The Commission’s Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, UPA focus: rural telecom would be its member-convenor. ‘‘More members may be included in the committee subsequently if need be, specifically when new projects in other sectors are taken up,’’ says the notification issued by TKA Nair, Principal Secretary to the PM. Speaking at the JRD Tata centenary celebrations, Singh had lauded private entrepreneurs and said that the government would ensure a regulatory framework that was transparent, autonomous, world-class and provided a balance between public and private sector suppliers. The panel’s job would be to ensure the longer-term financial viability of service providers, both in the public and private sectors, without which capacity expansion cannot take place. ‘‘In this context, the group will consider initiatives needed to develop sustainable revenue models that make public-private partnership feasible,’’ says the notification. It will frame institutional, regulatory and procedural reforms and outline policy directives that ensure that the created infrastructure actually delivers services at international standards. The committee has been asked to sketch out a priority list of projects and programmes to augment/modernise infrastructure capacity and develop a monitoring mechanism to track their progress while removing inter-ministerial bottlenecks.
