The Indian economy has undergone fundamental changes over the last decade.

Growth in investor interest is driven by strong economic growth, low interest rates, rising foreign exchange reserves, quality and cost competitiveness and encouraging Government policy-making. The strong level of economic growth achieved in India in recent years has led to an expansion of industry, commerce and per-capita incomes. This in turn has fuelled demand for infrastructure services including energy, transportation, telecom, water supply and other urban infrastructure. The investment in infrastructure in India has increased from 4.9 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 2002-03 to 6 percent last fiscal. It is expected to touch 10% of GDP in the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-2017). With the increasing investment, the share of private sector in the total investment on infrastructure has increased rapidly. The contribution of private sector in total infrastructure investment in each of the first two years of 11th Plan (2007-2012) was around 34%. This is higher than the 11th Plan target of 30%, and 25% achieved in 10th Plan period. It is expected to rise to 36% by end of 11th Plan and 50% during the 12th Plan (2012-2017). The Government initiatives including opening up a number of infrastructure sectors to private players, promoting investment in the sector by private players by permitting FDI, huge spending on projects like the National Highway Development Project, National Maritime Development Programme, etc. have opened up huge opportunities for investors.

India General Budget 2010-2011: Infrastructure development gets priority in Union Budget
New Delhi, Feb 26 : Forty-six per cent of plan outlay has been earmarked for developing infrastructure as the sector received much priority in the Annual Budget of India for 2010-11, presented by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday. Altogether Rs 1.73 lakh crore has been proposed to be set aside for developing infrastructure. Rural infrastructure development will get Rs 61,000 crore, while urban infrastructure development has been allocated Rs 5,400 crore. A total of Rs 48,000 crore has been kept aside for Bharat Nirman, the minister proposed in his Budget. Rs 10,000 core has been allocated for Indira Awas Yojana while home loans up to Rs 20 lakh will get 1 per cent interest subvention till March, 2011. Allocation for road infrastructure has also been increased to Rs 19,894 crore. --IBNS

2011 budget of India would focus on development of energy and infrastructure sector
Posted March 18, 2011 12:25PM

Investments in the energy sector are expected to surge thanks to the help rendered by the government and international companies. Recently, the Finance Minister of India, Pranab Mukherjee, recently declared the Budget for India, which allocated a large amount of energy investmentsfor the development of the infrastructure sector and would experience over 9% growth in the forthcoming years. The initiatives announced by the government of India would raise the limit for investment in tax-saving infrastructure bonds, and would foster such areas as roads, airports, energy and ports. At present, the tax exemption is provided for the infrastructure bonds, which would be around Rs 20,000 per annum. To resolve the financial issues in the sector, Pranab Mukherjee has planned to establish an Infra Debt Fund, which would examine the financial problems and would be headed by the HDFC Chief, Deepak Parekh. Initial capital of Rs 50,000 crore was allocated to the Parekh Committee for financing projects, and this was to be regulated and managed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The fund would provide long term capital to the infrastructure sector, and would also promote public-private partnership projects. As per the Economic Survey of 2011- 2012, around 559 infrastructure projects were planned and 52 percent of those nearly 293 projects were running behind schedule by October 2010. The energy investments would accelerate the energy projects and infrastructure development projects. The survey further reported that investments in the pivotal infrastructure sectors like roads, power, and ports are anticipated to raise the gross domestic product rate by around 8.37% which would be equivalent to Rs 4 lakh crore in 2011-12. In the Twelfth Five Year Plan, from the 2012 to 2017, around $1 trillion USD would be provided for the development of the infrastructure sector. Previously, the government planned to render around $500 billion USD for this sector. Huge budget support would be given by the Rajiv Gandhi, Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana, and the Re-structured Accelerated Power Development Reforms Programme, established by the government for reducing the power losses that occur due to transmission and distribution issues. The energyand infrastructure investments are the need of the hour. The energy investments are taking place not only in India, but all the developed and developing nations across the world are making tremendous attempts to ameliorate the sector. The development of energy and infrastructure has greater impact in the economy of any nation. This is considered the key for the development of other sectors

India to spend $1 trln on infrastructure development in 5 yrs to 2017: Commerce Min Sharma
Posted: Fri, June 24, 2011 | 6:37 PM IST

New Delhi: India will spend about $1 trillion on infrastructure development in the next five years beginning April 2012, Minister for Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma said earlier Thursday at Washington DC. There is a requirement of investment to bring about the second green revolution in India and to develop the agro-processing and food processing sectors, Sharma said, while addressing the 36th annual summit of the U.S. India Business Council (USIBC). There are many opportunities for investment in India's infrastructure, especially in energy, roads and power sectors, Sharma said. He emphasized on the need to strengthen the ongoing technological collaboration between the two countries through institutional linkages and co-development of technologies. He also pointed out the opportunities available in the manufacturing sector, pharmaceuticals, research and development, among others, in India. The USIBC is a business advocacy organization in the United States that is committed to strengthening US-India commercial ties and deepening two-way trade between the two economies. It comprises of 370 of the top US companies investing in India.

India to Put $47 Billion Into Infrastructure in 2011

JOC Staff | Mar 2, 2011 3:23PM GMT
The Journal of Commerce Online - News Story

Budget aims to accelerate economic growth, expand global trade

India plans to spend an estimated $47 billion on infrastructure development during fiscal 2011-12 to accelerate economic growth and expand global trade.

Infrastructure is critical for our development. The proposed budgetary allocation for 2011-12 is 23.3 percent higher than that for the current fiscal year, said Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee as he released the governments budget for the fiscal year beginning April 1. The minister announced several initiatives to stimulate the inflow of foreign investments, including proposals to raise the cap on investment in corporate bonds by foreign institutional investors from $5 billion to $25 billion and to create infrastructure debt funds. By The Numbers: U.S. Container Trade With India He said the ministry is working on a comprehensive policy to be applied by both the central and state governments for port, roadway and rail developments through the public-private-partnership model. Other budget proposals include granting infrastructure status to warehousing and cold storage projects as well as exempting shipowners from payment of import duty on certain spare parts. Our experience with the PPP model for creation of public sector assets in the country has been good, and discussions are underway to further liberalize our foreign direct investment policy, Mukherjee said. According to official estimates, New Delhi requires about $1 trillion over the next five years for infrastructure development, of which nearly 50 percent is expected to come from the private sector. The minister also said the Indian economy is expected to grow 9 percent in fiscal 2010-11, which ends March 31, 2011, compared with 7.4 percent the previous year. The Commerce Ministry recently announced plans to boost exports to $450 billion by 2014, up from an anticipated $225 billion for 2010-11

Posted Date ::24-06-2011 07::06::19

Tags : ndia, spending, development, infrastructure, Five Year Plan, Plan, Industry

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma has said that India will be spending around a trillion dollars on development of infrastructure in the next Five Year Plan beginning 2012. Addressing the 36th Annual Summit of the US India Business Council (USIBC) in Washington on Thursday, Sharma said: "There are many gaps in the infrastructure which present opportunities for investment, especially in energy, roads and power." He said there is requirement for investment to bring about the Second Green

evolution in India and to develop the agro-processing and food processing sectors. He also emphasized the need to give strength to ongoing technological collaboration between both countries through institutional linkages and co-development of technologies. He also pointed out the opportunities available in India in the manufacturing sector, in pharmaceuticals, in research and development and in a number of other sectors. Sharma highlighted the strategic partnership between India and the United States, which is based on shared values of democracy, plurality and the rule of law. He stressed on the commercial aspects of the relationship and pointed out the tremendous opportunities are available to US companies for investment and partnership with India. The USIBC is the premier business advocacy organisation in the US committed to strengthening US-India commercial ties and deepening two-way trade between the two economies. It comprises 370 of the top US companies investing in India.