World-Class Infrastructure Is The Need Of The Hour

Infrablaze 2016, a flagship event of the Symbiosis Centre for Management and Human Resource Development (SCMHRD), witnessed an audience made up of students and equally enthusiastic academicians. 

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The audience at InfraBlaze 2016 was waiting to hear the expert opinions of Santosh Nayar, CMD, IIFCL, and Rajeev Mehrotra, CMD of RITES Ltd, on the state of infrastructure development in India.

Nayar started with saying that it would take 100 years for the government to spend ₹1 trillion on India’s infrastructure sector.

Raising his concern over lack of skilled manpower in the infrastructure sector, Nayar said that the word “need” has been replaced by “compulsion” as far as infrastructure is concerned in India. This is mainly because, if India’s GDP has to grow at 8 per cent, the economy requires foreign direct investment, increase in manufacturing activity, etc. And this can happen only when we have a solid infrastructure backup.

Nayar lauded the efforts of the government. He said, “Despite many impediments, all efforts have been made by the government to give world-class infrastructure to its citizens.”

FOCUSED APPROACH

In his presentation to the students, he spoke about the need for a focused approach towards the infrastructure sector, as the country is still far behind other nations. According to him, without infrastructure, our exports will be expensive, a negative factor for India as the country will become less competitive.

Nayar made a few suggestions, substantiated with facts. So far, the infrastructure sector has been backed by commercial banks. However, unless banks lend for at least a 30-year period, the financial model will not work out for the infrastructure sector.