The Uttar Pradesh government is reworking on attracting investors for several public-private partnership (PPP) proposals, an area where it could not taste much success in recent times.
The redrafting process has been undertaken following a recent investors’ meet in New Delhi in context of the slew of PPP proposals in 12 sectors, including tourism, housing, transport, power, urban development, medical and education.
“The Delhi meet was successful and we jotted the suggestions and grievances of industry. We are trying to incorporate these in the draft proposals wherever it’s possible,” UP industrial development secretary Arun Kumar Sinha told Business Standard. Sinha is also the executive director of Udyog Bandhu, the nodal agency for facilitating investment in industrial and service sectors.
“The response was especially heartening for the tourism sector,” Sinha added. Some of the suggestions received for the sector related to the disclosure of valuation method adopted for the properties put on block for disinvestment.
The state tourism department is keen to disinvest 77 properties of the UP Tourism Development Corporation (UPTDC) via the PPP route. These include 47 loss-making and 30 profit-making guest houses, hotels and tourist complexes across the state.
“Some investors also proposed increasing the concession period of agreement in the PPP projects and that the government should acquire land before it invites bids for private partnerships,” another senior official in the industry department said.
After reworking the proposals, Request for Qualification (RfQ) and Request for Proposals (RfP) documents would be prepared in these sectors so that more private investors evince interest. The pre-bid meeting for the technical education department is scheduled next week.
The Delhi investors’ meet was aimed at projecting UP as an ideal investment destination and facilitating interaction and information exchange among industrialists, industry associations and potential investors with senior state government officials.
The respective departments made presentation before the select gathering on the proposed projects. In recent times, various PPP initiatives, except the Ganga Expressway Project, could not take off due to unattractive bidding terms.
