Private sector in Irrigation

Will this be a trend setter?

Irrigation sites in Maharashtra will soon sport names of prominent companies, if a novel initiative by the state government takes off. Bogged down by several unfinished projects along the Krishna basin, the state government has taken a bold step and placed it on the public-private partnership (PPP) platter. In a first for the country, some reasonably viable projects will be offered to private companies on a BOOT (Build-Operate-Own-Transfer) basis. Turning around the idea that irrigation projects are white elephants, the Maharashtra Urban Infrastructure Development Corporation (MUIDC) — formed for the purpose of driving PPP in the state — has approached the International Finance Committee (IFC), a World Bank arm to oversee the effort. The IFC will appoint consultants to conduct a feasibility study and recommend one project to be taken up as a pilot project. “Though the dams are in place, we need to create irrigation potential by completing the canal systems and developing a distribution network. That will be the job of the private partner,” said secretary, special projects, Sanjay Ubale, who is also managing director of MUIDC. For viability, the company will be permitted various potential options in the form of an irrigation cess, possible commercial exploitation of the land, developing its tourism potential, or even hydel power. Ubale recently made a presentation on all PPP projects (planned and under way) in the state to deputy chairperson of the Planning Commission, Gajendra Haldia. The Planning Commission has agreed to provide 20 per cent viability gap funding for these projects, while the state will fill in the rest, if necessary. According to an irrigation official, the Maharashtra government has applied for funding support for the feasibility study. This is not the first time the government has sought to take the dams to the corporates. A few years ago, expressions of interest were invited for the Neera-Deoghar project at Bhor in Pune district, but it found no takers. It was the World Bank (WB) assurance that emboldened the government to push for PPP, the official said. “The WB cited the case of Morocco and Brazil and encouraged us to try a pilot,” he added. The IFC, it is learnt, will hand-hold this enterprise right from appointing consultants to the point of facilitating private investment. The irrigation projects are the most radical of the 100 ambitious projects valued at Rs 66,500 crore lined up on the PPP charter in various stages. Other projects include the Metro rail (one component of which is already under construction), an elevated rail corridor (which has received state cabinet approval), expressway connectivity between all six divisions of the state (which is at the planning stage) and major roads such as between Sion and Panvel and Pune-Paud, two major ports at Rewas and Alewadi, and seven airports at Navi Mumbai, Nagpur, Solapur, Shirdi, Amravati, Jalgaon and Pune (all in various stages of planning or execution).