Revolving fund of Rs 100 cr for project preparation

New Delhi, Feb 28: Finance Minister P Chidambaram today proposedsetting of a Revolving Fund with a corpus of Rs 100 crore to quickenproject preparation.

Presenting the 2007-08 Budget proposals in the Lok Sabha, MrChidambaram said the fund will contribute up to 75% of the preparatoryexpenditure in the form of interest free loan that will be eventuallyrecovered from the successful bidder. Guidelines for operating the fundwill be announced in due course, he added.

Mr Chidambaram said the Public-Private Partnership model hasenabled greater private sector participation in infrastructurebuilding.

So far, under the viability gap funding scheme, 37 proposals havebeen received of which 21 proposals have been granted, 'in-principle'approval with a total project cost of Rs. 9,842 crore and an estimatedviability gap funding of Rs.2,521 crore, the Finance Minister informed.

''There is a need to adopt a more aggressive approach forpreparing a shelf of bankable projects that can be offered forcompetitive bidding,'' he said.

UNI