Projects worth Rs 15 lakh crore stalled for want of clearances

NEW DELHI: Industrial projects worth over Rs 15 lakh crore are stalled for want of various clearances and other issues, according to data compiled by the Prime Minister's Project Monitoring Group (PMG).

Of this, power is the most troubled sector where 136 projects worth over Rs 7.14 lakh crore are stalled. This is followed by steel, where 25 projects entailing investments of over Rs 3.36 lakh crore are stuck.

The other leading sectors where investments are stuck are oil and gas sector (32 projects entailing Rs 2.08 lakh crore investments), special economic zone (Rs 52,271 crore), Roads (Rs 40,155 crore) and Mines (Rs 37,399 crore).

In total, 319 projects worth over Rs 15.19 lakh crore stalled investments, have been identified so far by the Prime Minister's Project Monitoring Group (PMG). The list, however, has been increasing almost on a daily basis.

The PMG, since its constitution in June, has so far cleared 78 projects entailing investments of over Rs 2.93 lakh crore, data available on its website showed. The PMG was set up as a facilitating body for resolving specific issues of the projects and fast tracking them.

The issues and clearances of the stalled projects depend on their current stage and include environment and forest clearances, land acquisition, lack of co-ordination between various government departments and clearances stuck at the state government level.

Indian industry has been raising its concern against on the slow pace of project clearances, saying that this led to a severe decline in country's manufacturing activity, thereby lowering exports and affecting current account deficit (CAD).

According to the official figures, India's manufacturing sector had grown by only 1 per cent in 2012-13. During the first quarter of the current fiscal, it had reported a growth of 2 per cent.

The list of stalled projects include 4000 MW Tilaiya and 3,960 MW Sasan ultra mega power projects (Rs 65,000 crore investments together), Cairn India's Rs 28,000 crore Barmer oil block and Indian Oil's Rs 29,777 crore upcoming refinery in Paradip, Odisha.

Five crucial railway lines (worth over Rs 14,705 crore), which were proposed to link North-Eastern states with rest of the country, also feature in the list. Of this, four lines have the status of "National Project" and are supposed to link Imphal, Shillong, Agartala and Sikkim with rest of India.

Extension of Kolkata metro (two new lines entailing investment of Rs 5,013 crore), six laning of NH-8 between Gurgaon and Jaipur and three new LNG Terminals, proposed to be set up at Kakinada, Mundra and Gangavaram, for about Rs 15,200 crore are also part of the 319-stalled project list.

Two mega steel projects, entailing investments of over Rs 1 lakh crore together, of ArcelorMittal and Posco do not feature in the list. The two projects, announced way back in 2005-06, are still at land acquisition stage.