The country would need an investment of $500 billion in infrastructure during the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-2012), Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, said, adding that as much as $350 billion would be invested as per the business-as-usual forecast.The remaining $150 billion would have to be arranged from various sources, including the global financial market, and that should not be a problem as "specific policies are in place for achieving a jump in investment," Ahluwalia said while speaking at the India Economic Summit today.The government is proposing to raise investment in the infrastructure sector to 9% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2012 to achieve the high growth rate planned during the 11th Plan."The cabinet has recently approved the draft of the Eleventh Plan, which envisages an increase in infrastructure investment from 5% of GDP to 9%," Ahluwalia said.He said that as the country's savings rate is high and rising, and "resources are not likely to be a problem." However, the scale of activity needs to be stepped up to improve the nation's infrastructure, he added.
