India will need $4.5 trillion till 2040 for infrastructure development: Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

New Delhi: India will need around $4.5 trillion till 2040 for development of infrastructure sector in the country, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said Wednesday. Kant further said that there is an urgent need to restructure entire existing public-private partnership (PPP) framework as there are delays in the completion of infrastructure projects due to disputes. “India needs to spend close to around $4.5 trillion till 2040 to develop infrastructure in order to really improve overall economic growth and community well being,” he said at an event organised by Dun & Bradstreet (D&B). [caption id=“attachment_4849971” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] A file photo of Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.[/caption] Kant pointed out that the government has been focussing on the infrastructure sector. “Track record of the last four years has shown that all spending in the infrastructure sector across railways, airports and road came from the government,” he said. Noting that it is better to create infrastructure initially through the government spending, Kant said, “but then as soon as it completes projects, the government must get out of the infrastructure projects because it is extremely poor at operation and maintaining infrastructure projects”. Kant said India is growing at the rate of 7.5 percent per annum and challenge is to grow at higher rates. “Therefore, the country needs to focus on building quality infrastructure,” he stressed. Kant also pointed out that the cost of transportation in India is very high. The Niti Aayog CEO also noted that there is a pressing need of leveraging alternate and newer source of financing of infrastructure projects.