|
There is a furious thirst for generating fresh infrastructure in the country, be it Highways, Airports, Ports, Manufacturing Plants, etc. The poor infrastructure across the country has been widely acknowledged as the root cause of many of the economic ailments plaguing the country. The sorry state of Highways & Airports, for instance, triggers a chain of downstream problems that enmesh all aspects of the economy. Besides, fixing the infrastructural woes offers immense employment opportunities for the job-hungry millions.
While this problem is readily understood, there is no easy remedy on offer. The basic requirement to construct any infrastructural project is land. And, this is the scarcest commodity in a country where agriculturists are totally reluctant to part with their most precious resource. There have been many projects - both in the Public Sector and the Private Sector - that have been stalled (and even rolled-back) because of land acquisition challenges; the Singur project of Tata Motors is still fresh in every industrialist's mind.
Two recent cases illustrate this conundrum quite starkly. Much has been expected from the BJP-led government in Maharashtra as regards building next generation infrastructure to enable the state to stay ahead of the competition from other regions that has clipped its lead. One of the major projects that has been proposed is to connect the capital city, Mumbai, to Nagpur, the centre of Vidarbha. A mega-project that covers 706 kms across 10 districts with a ticket size of over Rs. 46K Crores, this is an ambitious venture with high political stakes too, apart from the various undeniable economic benefits for the region. Chasing a completion deadline of 2019, the project has just begun the most difficult phase - land acquisition. Anticipating difficulty, the state government has announced that they wish to offer multiple benefits to farmers who are affected by the project. Offering to treat them as 'partners in the project', the hope is that the Amaravati model will be acceptable to the farmers, who get to 'gain mainly from the value accretion to the developed residential and commercial plots they are entitled to, amounting up to 35 per cent of the land acquired.' Will this work? The jury is still out as the process of signing up and procuring land is scheduled to begin in November 2016.
A word on the 'Amaravati model': this is the innovative model being pursued by the Andhra Pradesh government in creating its new capital city, Amaravati. Using land pooling (as against the traditional land acquisition method), the government has invited landowners to voluntarily participate in the land development process by contracting their land ownership to a government agency, which undertakes to develop the land applying modern urbanisation principles & practices (building roads, providing sewage lines, electricity, etc.). In return the land owner receives a portion of the developed land with modern amenities for his own use (be it residential or commercial) with a market value of the owners' original landholding. Further, the land-owner will also receive a fixed annual compensation for ten years, along with some more benefits.
This model has worked well enough for a vast number of farmers to sign-up for the government's offering & thereby participate in the creation of what is forecasted to be India's most well-planned & modern smart city.
The key element of success here is that a vision has been offered to farmers to be co-creators rather than become hapless victims of urbanisation and industrialization.
The second recent example is the continuing controversy on the choice of location of a new airport for Pune. Multiple governments have wrestled with this vexatious subject for over a decade. All concede that an established business center like Pune requires a larger modern airport to replace the make-do one which it shares with the Air Force at present. However, there is no agreement on the choice of location due to multiple voices claiming priority over their needs - be it political parties, civil authorities, defense experts or agriculturists. Just when there seems to be a light at the end of this messed up dark tunnel - with the state government announcing Purandar as the location - local forces have threatened fresh agitation. The story is a developing one - but once again is a test of the resolve of a country that seeks modernization in infrastructure.
The envy with which many view China's infrastructure (roads, ports, airports, public utilities, etc.) is understandable given the spectacular mega-projects that they created over the last three decades. However, the challenges faced in a democratic economy are quite different. There can be no debate that strong infrastructure is a force-multiplier for an economy. Sadly, the fact is that while technical challenges can be surmounted, what is proving difficult to transcend in India are man-made issues: lack of long-term vision, biased & partisan politicking, lack of systems thinking, and worst of all, status-quoism. There is no easy solution to this current imbroglio, and one continues to await clear & firm leadership that creates consensus on the way forward in building a robust infrastructural base.
To read the complete issue click here.
|
The ELS Lotus logo is trademark of Empowered Learning Systems Pvt. Ltd.