West Bengal need to work on roads: Min

Kolkata, Dec 22 : West Bengal government needs to work further on road infrastructure, said a state minister here.

"The West Bengal government needs to work further for the development of road infrastructure in the state," said Public Works Department (PWD) minister Kshiti Goswami at CII Biz Bridge 2009 here.

"Road infrastructure is critical for the industrial development of the State. A High Level Joint Committee is being formed along with CII to prepare Master Plan for the road infrastructure in the state," Goswami said.

This Joint Committee will facilitate a detailed strategic optimum and feasibility study on the road infrastructure in West Bengal, he said.

The Minister also pointed out the challenges in front of this sector in West Bengal.

"Getting long stretches of land for building up road infrastructure faces hindrances due to heavy population density. Coupled with that, heavy monsoon climatic condition in the Gangetic plain of the State is also a major factor in denudation of roads," Goswami said.

The average growth of vehicular movement in India is rising at the rate of 10.16pc , as a result of which the demand for infrastructure is also rising by 10pc .

Meanwhile, Subrata Gupta, MD, WBIDC dealt with the issue of bridging the gap in the infrastructure sector at the CII Biz.

He emphasized the role of a proper Government policy and a model to facilitate PPP investment in this sector.

"The amount of huge investment required by the infrastructure sector, is a big stake for the Public Sector to handle all by its own and it is at this juncture where Private Sector has a major role to play," Gupta said.

Gupta also emphasized the necessity of attracting more Foreign Direct Investment for the State's infrastructural development.

In his address, Subrata Paul, CEO and Director, Bengal Aerotropolis Projects Ltd informed about the present status of Bengal's largest innovative aerotropolis project in recent times.

In this connection, he pointed out the investment drawing potential of the Project in that area with companies like Bharat Forge, Bhushan Steel, Balaji Steel and Videocon Group spreading their footprints in that area.

Talking about the latest project status, Paul said: "The project has reached its financial closure. Acquisition of 533.51 acres of land has already been completed while that of another 516 acres will be over by this year. The construction of the airport is also expected to be completed by March 15, 2011."

Stressing for a successful PPP model for infrastructural development of the State as well as India, Samiran Sen, ED, Consulting Engineers Services (I) Pvt. Ltd, mentioned that it has been roughly estimated that about 40USD billion of investment will be required from the Private Sector by the end of 2012 and for that it is necessary to frame a comprehensive master plan