It was meant to be a committee to fast-track delayed mega projects but the names of some critical ministers do not figure in the list of Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) members.
Most of the country’s industrial projects are stalled due to land acquisition, labour and tribals’ settlement issues. However, the much-awaited committee has kept the ministers concerned out.
Another major hurdle for projects has been delays in environmental clearances. However, minister Jayanthi Natarajan has found place in the committee only as a special invitee. Tribal Affairs Minister Kishore Chandra Deo, on the other hand, is neither a member nor an invitee. Deo, besides Natarajan, was one of the loudest voices against the setting up of the committee, known as the National Investment Board (NIB) at the time of proposal.
| Those who are not included: |
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Natarajan could be included as a special invitee because she is a minister of state (independent), but Deo holds a Cabinet rank.
Besides, Labour Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh — both Cabinet ministers — too, have been excluded from the committee, even as land acquisition and labour issues have been major causes of project delays.
The 15-member panel with four special invitees does not even have Shipping Minister G K Vasan and Steel Minister Beni Prasad Verma — neither of them a junior minister.
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Even as the committee has included Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, party colleague Praful Patel, who holds the critical portfolio of public enterprises and heavy industry ministry with a Cabinet rank, has been kept out. Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat was also part of the panel, those in the know confirmed.
The committee, mandated to review a gamut of procedures followed by ministries and departments to grant or deny clearance to projects, among other things, will be headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Earlier, Natarajan had strongly opposed the formation of the body in its earlier avatar as NIB, saying it would undermine the powers vested with her ministry and favour big industrialists and corporations rather than disadvantageous sections of the society and forest dwellers. However, after the Cabinet cleared the formation of CCI last month, she said her concerns had been addressed.
Deo had also been constantly writing to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Congress leadership about the pitfalls in ignoring tribals’ rights while allowing forest diversion for development projects.
| COMPOSITION OF PANEL Head: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh | |
| Name | Ministry /Department |
| A K Antony | Defence |
| Sharad Pawar | Agriculture & Food Processing |
| P Chidambaram | Finance |
| Sushilkumar Shinde | Home |
| M Veerappa Moily | Petroleum and Natural Gas |
| Kamal Nath | Urban Development |
| Ajit Singh | Civil Aviation |
| Kapil Sibal | Communications & Information Tech |
| Anand Sharma | Commerce & Industry |
| C P Joshi | Road Transport & Highways |
| Pawan Kumar Bansal | Railways |
| Shriprakash Jaiswal | Coal |
| Dinsha J Patel | Mines |
| Ashwani Kumar | Law and Justice |
| Harish Rawat | Water Resources |
| SPECIAL INVITEES | |
| Jayanthi Natarajan | MoS, Environment & Forests |
| M S Ahluwalia | Dy Chairman, Planning Commission |
| Jyotiraditya Scindia | MoS, Power |
| Manish Tewari | MoS, Information & Broadcasting |
Referring to the delayed projects, he had said: “We have to witness the large number of projects in the country that are today stalled by protests and court cases to understand short-cuts benefit no one in addition to being illegal.’’
The terms of reference of the committee do not clearly spell out how these interests would now be safeguarded. Those include identifying key projects required to be implemented on a time-bound basis, involving investments of Rs1,000 crore or more, or any other critical projects in infrastructure and manufacturing.
The committee will prescribe time limits for issue of requisite approvals and clearances by the ministries, departments concerned and then monitor these time limits.
According to a senior government official, the existing Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure, which till now was mandated to approve or disapprove a major infrastructure projects, will be merged with the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The revised functions of the CCEA will include considering cases of increase in firmed up cost estimate or revised cost estimate due to reasons such as time overrun, changes in scope, under-estimation of projects.
Besides Natarajan, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Minister of State for Power (independent) Jyotiraditya Scindia and Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting (independent) Manish Tewari are other special invitees to the Committee.