PM approves setting up of Investment Tracking System

New Delhi, June 1 (ANI): In order to address the issue of major investment projects being delayed for a variety of reasons, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has approved the setting up of an Investment Tracking System to ensure speedy implementation.

This issue had come up in the last meeting of the Prime Minister's Council on Trade and Industry held in December in which the Prime Minister had stated that major projects will be specially tracked to take them forward on a fast track in order to provide a fresh impetus to the economy.

This was in the context of delays faced by projects on multiple fronts - security clearances, environmental clearances, other clearances, land related matters, etc. While existing rules and laws have to be followed, it was widely felt that a lot of the delay is avoidable if only there is a will to resolve matters.

In pursuance of this, an Investment Tracking System has been put in place whereby:

(a) National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council shall track all Public Sector projects with an investment of ' 1000 crore and above. The National Manufacturing Competitiveness Council shall submit a quarterly statement of all projects monitored and any issues identified that need resolution, either systemically or individually.

(b) The Department of Financial Services shall monitor projects with an investment of ' 1000 crore and above in the private sector. The Department would use data available with the banking sector for this purpose. The Department shall submit a quarterly statement of all projects monitored and issues identified that need resolution, either systemically or individually.

Through this mechanism, the projects will be periodically reviewed for any delays and specific or systemic issues will be identified for resolution.

The department of financial services and the national manufacturing competitiveness council will submit quarterly reports on the tracking being done by them and on identified issues to the Prime Minister's Office. Corrective action will be taken wherever found necessary. (ANI)