With under-construction road projects worth Rs 55,000 crore through the public-private partnership (PPP) route , Uttar Pradesh has left its peers far behind with a share of 33 per cent of all such projects in the country.
According to a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) released here on Tuesday, there were 15 road projects underway in UP under PPP till August 2012.
The country’s road sector has the highest number of projects either under operation or bidding through the PPP route.
There were collectively about 115 road projects worth over Rs 21,600 crore under operation in different states, 219 road projects worth Rs 1.65 lakh crore under construction and 98 projects worth over Rs 51,000 crore under bidding.
Releasing the study titled ‘PPP in Road Sector 2012,’ D S Rawat, secretary general, Assocham, said about eight road projects worth Rs 191 crore got reversed to the public; there were 11 projects worth Rs 5,200 crore in the expression of interest stage. Projects worth Rs 180 crore got cancelled.
While Gujarat ranks second with a share of over eight per cent and has 22 road projects worth Rs 13,600 crore under construction through the PPP route; Tamil Nadu with 21 road projects worth Rs 12,700 crore under construction has the third highest share of about 7.7 per cent, followed by Maharashtra (7.3 per cent) and Andhra Pradesh (5.8 per cent).
There are about 881 projects worth Rs 5 lakh crore being carried out in the country till August 2012.
Commenting on UP’s industrial climate, with a shortfall of almost 20 per cent in availability, Rawat said power remained the biggest impediment towards industrialisation.
“While big industries can afford to set up captive units, the small industries face closure due to power shortage.”
He said there were about 100,000 small industrial units in UP, of which 15,000 have been shut down or are sick.
