Centre to call meet on pvt-public partnership

Reports of the task force on the dedicated freight corridor, the report of the committee of secretaries and the inter-ministerial group on Customs procedure and freight sharing at ports, restructuring of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and financing of the national highways development programme will be presented at the meeting.

State chief secretaries, officials from central ministries (finance, power, civil aviation, railways, shipping, road transport and highways), heads of Indian banks, the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank have been called to give their views on the model (PPP) . Finance Minister P Chidambaram will inaugurate the meeting.

"One lakh kilometres of state highways and main district roads which badly need upgradation have not been taken up by the state governments because of financial constraints," an official said.

The meeting will persuade state governments to contribute to PPP projects. "Opinions of states in all the public-private participation infrastructure projects have been sought" the official said.