Rangarajan panel appoints members for road sector bailout policy proposal
The panel will include five members in addition to the chairman
New Delhi: The government has appointed the members of the panel, headed by Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council chairman C. Rangarajan, to look into a proposal to restructure premium commitments of stressed road developers.
The panel will include five members in addition to the chairman. Secretary Planning Commission Sindhushree Khullar, expenditure secretary R.S. Gujral, secretary, economic advisory council Alok Sheel, roads secretary Vijay Chhibber, joint secretary road transport and highways Rohit Kumar Singh and chairman National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) R.P. Singh, said a government official, requesting anonymity.
Premium here is the money road developers agree to pay the NHAI for building highways and collecting toll from users.
The government gave an in principle approval on 17 October to the proposal to restructure premium commitments of stressed road developers with riders. The cabinet had directed that a committee be formed headed by Rangarajan to look into the fine print of the policy. “The committee will define which projects qualify as “stressed" and can avail the relaxation under this policy, it will decide on what should be the discount rate and address the issue of penalties," the official said.
The recommendations made by this panel will need to be vetted by the ministry of finance, the cabinet had said.
The policy proposal pertains to back loading the premium developers owe to the government in a bid to provide relief to the sector. GMR Infrastructure Ltd and GVK Power and Infrastructure Ltd are among 23 developers seeking relief.
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