The Planning Commission has stressed on the need for ensuring Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) worth $ 20 billion every year along with enhancing the contribution to the sector to 4.7% of the GDP in the infrastructure sector.The investment of $ 20 billion would have to be achieved on year-to-year basis for building the nation's infrastructure and the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model would have to be balanced to ensure private funding for public projects, commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said.He argued that private participation in any public project was desirable as the private entrepreneurs are target-oriented, follow fiscal discipline as they are keen to ensure returns from their investment.Ahluwalia, however, cautioned the entrepreneurs saying mass awareness was on the rise and they would not accept and service in a slipshod manner. He recalled that when the Delhi government privatised power distribution many consumers agitated against excessive billing and faulty meters.The deputy chairman pegged the average growth during the Tenth Five Year Plan to 7% and the Approach Paper to the Eleventh Plan has envisaged a growth rate of 8-8.5% during the next five years.He added that the government was aiming to double the growth in agriculture through water management and propoer irrigation but pointed out that there was an express need for further investment in agriculture.
