Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia has said that Tamil Nadu's human development index was better than the national average, and that the focus of the development initiatives in the 12th plan should be on sectors like energy, health, water and urbanisation.
The state's Annual Plan outlay of Rs 23,535 crore for 2011-12 was approved at a meeting between Ahluwalia and chief minister J Jayalalithaa in New Delhi.
According to Ahluwalia, new initiatives are needed to create investor-friendly environment and improve both social and physical infrastructure. In the process of rebuilding the state, emphasis should also be on improving revenue generation. Public private partnership in development of roads and the health sector needs to be encouraged.
Suggestions from state governments on improving efficiency of the flagship programmes and on making development more inclusive would be built into in the approach paper being finalised. Ahluwalia said that the Commission was keen to make guidelines related to centrally-sponsored schemes more flexible for better utilisation.
The state government is facing an outstanding debt of over Rs 1 lakh crore. Jayalalithaa said investments in agriculture, industry and basic infrastructure would be considerably enhanced to restore the state's attractiveness to investors. The state also intends to make a determined push for growth in the manufacturing sector for sustaining growth in the services sector.
