Team Manmohan gets down to business, puts a date on its plans

NEW DELHI: Team Manmohan is in a hurry, and ministers handling key infrastructure portfolios are not shying away from putting a date to their plans. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had signalled the collective resolve when he laid to rest all speculation on an interim vote-on-account by clarifying that a full budget would be presented in early July.

Now, his colleagues handling telecom, petroleum, surface transport, steel and corporate affairs have laid out their immediate agenda, with deadlines in place, in separate interactions with ET reporters on Friday, a day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assigned them their portfolios.

The continuity of ministers in some sectors ��� petroleum, civil aviation, telecom, agriculture and urban development - is expected to speed track pending policy measures in these key sectors.

Communications and IT minister A Raja said the long-delayed spectrum auctions for 3G and WiMax would be carried out before August, while his colleague in the petroleum ministry, Murli Deora, hinted at a deregulation in fuel pricing shortly.

The man who changed lines from the commerce ministry to surface transport, Kamal Nath, said the time for thinking was up, and hinted at some hard action on ground soon.



The domestic industry demand for safeguard duties is first on the agenda of steel minister Vir Bhadra Singh, and corporate affairs minister Salman Khursheed is keen on getting the new Companies Act out of woodwork.

Mr Raja said India has to move fast on the hardware front, and he plans to offer a 20% subsidy to companies, which have invested in creating a manufacturing hub in the country.

In the petroleum ministry, there is also a feeling that this may be the best time to push through the proposed reforms in the oil sector, as global oil prices are relatively low.

The steel minister told ET that issues related to mining would be taken up immediately so that projects can be flagged off at the earliest.

Mr Khursheed said he favoured giving more powers to government���s investigating agency Serious Fraud Investigation Office that played a significant role in the Satyam case, and emphasised the need to establish good governance.

Mr Nath will soon start meeting bankers to see that credit for private road builders are made available. It was not just about economic infrastructure. Kapil Sibal, who took charge as the HRD minister, said quality and accessibility would be the two pillars on which his educational policy would stand.