Government should provide public private partnership details in budget:Planning Commission

NEW DELHI: With a view to improve transparency in public private partnership ( PPP) projects, the Planning Commission wants the Finance Minister to disclose all the information about such ventures in the budget proposals.

"There should be supplements to the budgets providing project-wise, ministry-wise and sector-wise information on PPPs projects," the Commission said in a presentation, which is based on the Rangarajan Committee report on efficient management of public expenditure.

The government is trying to promote infrastructure development through PPP projects and has suggested the state should pick projects under this mode in a big way.

PPP is a private business investment where two parties comprising government as well as a private player form a partnership to set up projects for providing public service.

The Government is eyeing an investment of around USD one trillion in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), with half of it coming from the private sector in infrastructure projects like railways, telecommunication, road and power.

At present, the government does not provide such consolidated information about the PPP projects being implemented by the various government departments along with the budget.

The Commission also suggests that annuity commitments (by private player) under PPP projects may form part of the committed expenditure of the budget of the concerned ministry or department.