Public Private Partnership in Highways Model Concession Agreement

Abstract

There is today a broad consensus that a sustained growth rate of about 8% per annum is the minimum necessary if India is to eliminate poverty and achieve a quantum jump in the quality of life of its citizens. One of the preconditions for sustaining such a growth rate is the creation of world class infrastructure. The quality of our infrastructure at present simply will not allow the economy to reach the level of competitiveness needed to achieve 8% growth in an open economy. However, the investment requirement for meeting the infrastructure deficit is such that it cannot possibly be met by relying on the public sector alone. It is therefore necessary to explore the scope for building infrastructure through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). PPPs have the added advantage that they lend themselves to a clear specification of levels of service quality based on benchmarks that have been achieved elsewhere.