Reflections of Passions

The debate on public-private partnerships has largely evoked partisan views. As many developed nations now look at public private partnerships to fund major infrastructure projects, there has been a renewed interest in PPPs not only in India but also worldwide. A public-private partnership offers a wide scope for project financing and innovative delivery approaches through access to capital markets, implementation of new technologies, expedition of project delivery in time-bound phased manners, operations and maintenance in cost-effective ways. India’s experiment with PPP has been around for roughly 20 years where the focus has been predominantly on asset creation. There is no surprise that most of the PPP concessions have been given to development of national highways and ports. The World Bank cited in its 2011 report that private participation was highly concentrated only in India. It ranks India as the largest market for PPP in the developing world, accounting for over half of

One of the best known faces of Maharashtra politics and former deputy chief minister, Gopinath Munde died early Tuesday morning following a road accident in Delhi. Munde, a senior politician from Maharashtra, was sworn in as the Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Drinking Water and Sanitation on May 26. He was also until recently in the reckoning for the position of Maharashtra Chief Minister. His sudden and untimely demise is a rude shock to the turbulence prevailing in Maharashtra politics. Being an astute politician and a master strategist, he rose from the ranks leaving his imprints on every position he occupied in public life. Credited with the near-impossible task of neutralising the NCP Chief Sharad Pawar, Munde won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes from the Beed constituency after defeating NCP’s Suresh Dhas. Known for his organisational skills, his career in public life has been characterised by hard work and his ability to r

The swearing-in of a Prime Minister holds the promise of a new growth cycle as much as it illustrates how transfer of power can happen peacefully. May 26, 2014 too heralded the arrival of a new government helmed by Narendra Modi. As curtains fell on the world’s largest democratic elections, the swearing in of Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister of India brought forward the possibility of renewal of ties with representatives of SAARC countries. While the event was attended by the who’s who of Indian politics, there were some omissions who did not make it to the swearing in: J. Jayalalithaa: The Tamil Nadu CM, J. Jayalalithaa, had hoped that the new Government would be sensitive towards the Tamilians. The CM refused to attend the swearing-in due to the invitation extended to the Sri Lankan President, Mahinda Rajapakse, who allegedly oversaw the genocide in Sri Lanka and remained President while innocent Tamilians were killed in the crossfire. Siddharamaiah: Siddharamaiah, the Ch