Key ministries would have to meet short-term infrastructure targets to impress Modi

Looks like Prime Minister Modi doesn’t want to leave any scope in stepping up the infrastructure investment and speeding up its execution, which is why he has set targets for key ministries which they would have to deliver by the end of this financial year.

This is also being done so that the changes that are taking place are visible to people.

"Targets for infrastructure sectors have been approved by the Prime Minister and communicated to ministries. These will now be regularly monitored by NITI Aayog and reviewed by the Prime Minister himself on a quarterly basis," a government official told ET.

It was after NITI Aayog, the government’s think tank, made sectoral presentations to the PM last month, which highlighted lethargy in many key areas for infrastructural developments that this step was thought of. Last week, the targets were communicated to infrastructure sector ministries of railways, roads, ports, civil aviation and others, along with detailed timelines by when they would have to meet these targets.

As per sources, 26 action points for roads and 36 action points for railways have been identified, which require immediate attention.

Deadlines for the actions required range from three months to up to three years, depending upon the work required, and by the looks of it, it’s quite clear that the PM does not want any slippage.

NITI Aayog was also assigned the task of identifying nodal ministries/divisions that would be made accountable for all hits and misses, and that has already been done.

Image source