In a bid to “depoliticise” project allocation and approvals, the government has introduced competition among states for sanction of hospitals, educational institutions, infrastructure projects and hosting of national events through a set of guidelines.
The competition, sources said, aims to promote transparency and reduce incentives for favouring constituencies and states or setting up pork barrel projects that seek to secure government funds for an area. It looks to speed up project approval and rollout by addressing key requisites like land selection etc.
Such projects often face non-availability of suitable land, delay in clearances, political opposition, lack of infrastructure and others which result in missed deadlines along with cost overruns. In meetings with officials, PM Narendra Modi has sought ways to reduce the planning-to-implementation period.
The challenge, however, will be conducted among states that are similarly placed for a project. They will have to compete with each other over generic parameters such as ease of providing land, fiscal contribution, connectivity, provision of utilities, fast-track single window clearances, financial viability and employment generation potential.
The government guidelines, adopt the “challenge method” for “selection of location/sites” for future IITs, IIMs, AIIMS, medical colleges, railways and road projects, airports, mega textile parks, IT parks and power projects as well as national games and youth festivals, among others.
Different weightage has been assigned to each parameter, to arrive at a cumulative score. The state with the highest score out of 100 would be the winner for a particular project, institution or event.
For example, parameters and weightage for setting up of AIIMS are the early availability of land (20), utilities (15), the gap in tertiary healthcare facilities (15) and financial contribution by state (10), among others.
“Proper site or location is essential for successful implementation of any development project. The challenge method of site selection, based on competition between states, will promote transparency and will lead to the selection of the most suitable site,” said an official. He added, “The move aimed at encouraging healthy competition between the states as well as to ensure stakeholders commitment for timely execution of projects.”
Socio-economic indicators such as literacy levels, health indices and per capita income have also been considered while finalising parameters and higher weightage is given so as to facilitate needy states in getting the project. The challenge method, which would be applied to Greenfield as well as brownfield projects, would ensure objective, merit-based selection of locations or sites.
In addition to generic parameters, the ministries or departments may include sector-specific parameters and capture the particular requirement of the project such as availability of raw material, beneficiary proximity and availability of skilled manpower. The group of secretaries has finalised the guidelines, parameters along with weightage for both greenfield and brownfield projects such as IITs/IIMs, AIIMS among others.
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