India wants greater M'sian participation in its infrastructure projects

PUTRAJAYA: India, which plans to raise its investment target in infrastructure projects to US$1 trillion (RM3.1 trillion), welcomes greater Malaysian participation given Malaysia's strength in the sector, India's Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh said on Wednesday, Oct 27.

In the 11th Five-Year Plan that will end in 2011, India has targeted an investment in infrastructure of US$500 billion and hopes to increase this to US$1 trillion in the 12th Plan, Manmohan said.

Inadequate infrastructure is a major constraint on India's performance and the country is determined to overcome it, he said at the Khazanah Global Lectures here on Wednesday. Also present was Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

"Malaysia has well-known strengths in building infrastructure and we welcome greater Malaysian participation in this sector," Manmohan said.

The prime minister, who is on an official visit, said India also has big plans to set up special investment funds that could be used to finance long gestation infrastructure projects.

"We hope to attract Indian and international funding for these projects," he said.

India, according to Manmohan, does not wish to go down the path followed by highly industrialised countries but to undergo a development process that is sustainable.

"We seek a model of sustainable development suited to our own needs, circumstances and genius. This is not an easy task for an emerging economy. We want to strike a careful balance between our needs of on Wednesday and those of future generations," he said.

India has formulated an ambitious National Action Plan on Climate Change that is closely linked to energy security.

For this purpose, it has launched a national solar mission that aims to build a capacity of 20,000 megawatts of solar power by 2022.

The country also has a national mission on water, and projects on green India, energy efficiency and sustaining the Himalayan ecosystem.

"I believe that it is vital for any country to keep its development options open," Manmohan said.

"That is why we worked so hard on a civil nuclear initiative that has opened the doors for India to develop the option to clean nuclear energy as an important part of our energy security," he said. — Bernama