Daily Analysis of 'The Hindu' - 1st January, 2020 | Additional Study Material for UPSC PDF Download

 Page 1


•Finance Minister unveils 
plans for ?102 lakh cr. infra 
projects
• Centre, States and the private sector 
to share capital expenditure till 
2024-25
Page 2


•Finance Minister unveils 
plans for ?102 lakh cr. infra 
projects
• Centre, States and the private sector 
to share capital expenditure till 
2024-25
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday outlined plans to invest more than ?102 lakh crore in 
infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, the States and the private sector sharing the capital 
expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.
This will be a significant increase over the last six years, when the Centre and the States together spent ?51 lakh 
crore on infrastructure.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to invest ?100 lakh crore in 
modern infrastructure. This is the expenditure needed to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, according to 
an official statement.
A task force of senior bureaucrats, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, had identified 
?102 lakh crore worth of projects in 18 States as part of a National Infrastructure Pipeline.
Another ?3 lakh crore worth of projects are likely to be added soon, Ms. Sitharaman told journalists, adding that the 
idea was not to exclude any State, but certain States were yet to put forward their pipelines.
Large States yet to provide adequate data are Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Bihar, said the task force 
report. The investment is phased over a six-year period, including the current financial year.
Page 3


•Finance Minister unveils 
plans for ?102 lakh cr. infra 
projects
• Centre, States and the private sector 
to share capital expenditure till 
2024-25
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday outlined plans to invest more than ?102 lakh crore in 
infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, the States and the private sector sharing the capital 
expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.
This will be a significant increase over the last six years, when the Centre and the States together spent ?51 lakh 
crore on infrastructure.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to invest ?100 lakh crore in 
modern infrastructure. This is the expenditure needed to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, according to 
an official statement.
A task force of senior bureaucrats, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, had identified 
?102 lakh crore worth of projects in 18 States as part of a National Infrastructure Pipeline.
Another ?3 lakh crore worth of projects are likely to be added soon, Ms. Sitharaman told journalists, adding that the 
idea was not to exclude any State, but certain States were yet to put forward their pipelines.
Large States yet to provide adequate data are Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Bihar, said the task force 
report. The investment is phased over a six-year period, including the current financial year.
• Almost a quarter of the capital expenditure is going to the energy sector, 
with ?24.5 lakh crore expected to be invested in power, renewable 
energy, atomic energy and petroleum and natural gas. This is also the 
sector where the private sector has expressed the most interest, said Ms. 
Sitharaman.
• The other major focus areas are roads (19%) and railways (13%), urban 
(16%) and rural (8%) infrastructure, and irrigation (8%). 
• Social infrastructure, including health and education, will get 3% of the 
capital expenditure, with digital communication and industrial expenditure 
each getting the same amount as well. Agriculture and food processing 
infrastructure will get one per cent of the planned capital expenditure.
• Going forward, the task force will continue to monitor progress and will 
also have the flexibility to change course, with the power to drop selected 
projects and pick up new ones, said Ms. Sitharaman.
A big task
The plan calls for a ?13.6 lakh crore investment in 2019-20, a big task considering that the 2018-19 investment 
in infrastructure by the Centre, the States and the private sector was only ?10 lakh crore, a slight drop from 
the previous year’s investment of ?10.2 lakh crore.
The funds would come from budgetary and extra-budgetary resources, as well as those raised from the market and 
the internal accruals of the relevant state-owned companies, said Mr. Chakraborty.
Page 4


•Finance Minister unveils 
plans for ?102 lakh cr. infra 
projects
• Centre, States and the private sector 
to share capital expenditure till 
2024-25
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday outlined plans to invest more than ?102 lakh crore in 
infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, the States and the private sector sharing the capital 
expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.
This will be a significant increase over the last six years, when the Centre and the States together spent ?51 lakh 
crore on infrastructure.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to invest ?100 lakh crore in 
modern infrastructure. This is the expenditure needed to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, according to 
an official statement.
A task force of senior bureaucrats, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, had identified 
?102 lakh crore worth of projects in 18 States as part of a National Infrastructure Pipeline.
Another ?3 lakh crore worth of projects are likely to be added soon, Ms. Sitharaman told journalists, adding that the 
idea was not to exclude any State, but certain States were yet to put forward their pipelines.
Large States yet to provide adequate data are Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Bihar, said the task force 
report. The investment is phased over a six-year period, including the current financial year.
• Almost a quarter of the capital expenditure is going to the energy sector, 
with ?24.5 lakh crore expected to be invested in power, renewable 
energy, atomic energy and petroleum and natural gas. This is also the 
sector where the private sector has expressed the most interest, said Ms. 
Sitharaman.
• The other major focus areas are roads (19%) and railways (13%), urban 
(16%) and rural (8%) infrastructure, and irrigation (8%). 
• Social infrastructure, including health and education, will get 3% of the 
capital expenditure, with digital communication and industrial expenditure 
each getting the same amount as well. Agriculture and food processing 
infrastructure will get one per cent of the planned capital expenditure.
• Going forward, the task force will continue to monitor progress and will 
also have the flexibility to change course, with the power to drop selected 
projects and pick up new ones, said Ms. Sitharaman.
A big task
The plan calls for a ?13.6 lakh crore investment in 2019-20, a big task considering that the 2018-19 investment 
in infrastructure by the Centre, the States and the private sector was only ?10 lakh crore, a slight drop from 
the previous year’s investment of ?10.2 lakh crore.
The funds would come from budgetary and extra-budgetary resources, as well as those raised from the market and 
the internal accruals of the relevant state-owned companies, said Mr. Chakraborty.
A group of theocracies
India must rebuff attempts by the OIC to interfere in its internal affairs
• The improvement in India’s ties with the Gulf countries is often cited as a major success of the present government. 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 
which he has visited more than once in his tenure, and his personal ties with their most powerful royals, has yielded accolades and 
promises of investment. In March 2019, it resulted in then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressing the 57-member 
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi, a breakthrough for India. The government’s outreach to the 
grouping was seen as a way of strengthening ties with the “Muslim world” including West Asian countries where more than 
six million Indians live and work. It was therefore disappointing for the government to note that in June, the OIC appointed a 
“special envoy” on Jammu and Kashmir, and subsequently issued several strongly worded statements on the 
government’s decision to amend Article 370 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute and 
the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, or the CAA. And last week, according to Pakistani officials, the OIC decided to convene 
a special meeting in Islamabad in 2020 to discuss the Kashmir issue and the repercussions of the CAA, after discussions the Saudi 
Foreign Minister had in Islamabad. It should be clear to the government that the engagement with the grouping this year was a
miscalculation. In any case, the basis of the OIC is a unity between theocratic Muslim states, an idea that India, as a secular 
country with a large Muslim population has never been aligned with. At all costs, attempts by the OIC to make statements and 
arrogate to itself the well-being of India’s Muslims must be rebuffed as gross interference.
• However, New Delhi must note that the OIC’s recent statements also stem from a broader tussle within the grouping that has 
become a concern for traditional leaders, the KSA and the UAE. The challenge comes chiefly from Malaysia, where Prime 
Minister Mahathir Mohamad has revived his plans for a “reformed” OIC, and has enlisted other challengers to the Riyadh-
Abu Dhabi domination of the pan-Islamic movement including Iran, Turkey and Qatar. In that sense, the OIC’s criticism of 
India is a clear attempt at reaffirming its leadership of the movement. New Delhi must strengthen ties with its strategic 
partners in the region on both sides of the divide without taking sides or becoming collateral damage in the internecine warfare
between them. But it must also be wary of groupings with nothing in common other than a religious world view.
Page 5


•Finance Minister unveils 
plans for ?102 lakh cr. infra 
projects
• Centre, States and the private sector 
to share capital expenditure till 
2024-25
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday outlined plans to invest more than ?102 lakh crore in 
infrastructure projects by 2024-25, with the Centre, the States and the private sector sharing the capital 
expenditure in a 39:39:22 formula.
This will be a significant increase over the last six years, when the Centre and the States together spent ?51 lakh 
crore on infrastructure.
On Independence Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced plans to invest ?100 lakh crore in 
modern infrastructure. This is the expenditure needed to achieve a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, according to 
an official statement.
A task force of senior bureaucrats, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary Atanu Chakraborty, had identified 
?102 lakh crore worth of projects in 18 States as part of a National Infrastructure Pipeline.
Another ?3 lakh crore worth of projects are likely to be added soon, Ms. Sitharaman told journalists, adding that the 
idea was not to exclude any State, but certain States were yet to put forward their pipelines.
Large States yet to provide adequate data are Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Bihar, said the task force 
report. The investment is phased over a six-year period, including the current financial year.
• Almost a quarter of the capital expenditure is going to the energy sector, 
with ?24.5 lakh crore expected to be invested in power, renewable 
energy, atomic energy and petroleum and natural gas. This is also the 
sector where the private sector has expressed the most interest, said Ms. 
Sitharaman.
• The other major focus areas are roads (19%) and railways (13%), urban 
(16%) and rural (8%) infrastructure, and irrigation (8%). 
• Social infrastructure, including health and education, will get 3% of the 
capital expenditure, with digital communication and industrial expenditure 
each getting the same amount as well. Agriculture and food processing 
infrastructure will get one per cent of the planned capital expenditure.
• Going forward, the task force will continue to monitor progress and will 
also have the flexibility to change course, with the power to drop selected 
projects and pick up new ones, said Ms. Sitharaman.
A big task
The plan calls for a ?13.6 lakh crore investment in 2019-20, a big task considering that the 2018-19 investment 
in infrastructure by the Centre, the States and the private sector was only ?10 lakh crore, a slight drop from 
the previous year’s investment of ?10.2 lakh crore.
The funds would come from budgetary and extra-budgetary resources, as well as those raised from the market and 
the internal accruals of the relevant state-owned companies, said Mr. Chakraborty.
A group of theocracies
India must rebuff attempts by the OIC to interfere in its internal affairs
• The improvement in India’s ties with the Gulf countries is often cited as a major success of the present government. 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on relations with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), 
which he has visited more than once in his tenure, and his personal ties with their most powerful royals, has yielded accolades and 
promises of investment. In March 2019, it resulted in then External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj addressing the 57-member 
Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Abu Dhabi, a breakthrough for India. The government’s outreach to the 
grouping was seen as a way of strengthening ties with the “Muslim world” including West Asian countries where more than 
six million Indians live and work. It was therefore disappointing for the government to note that in June, the OIC appointed a 
“special envoy” on Jammu and Kashmir, and subsequently issued several strongly worded statements on the 
government’s decision to amend Article 370 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya dispute and 
the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019, or the CAA. And last week, according to Pakistani officials, the OIC decided to convene 
a special meeting in Islamabad in 2020 to discuss the Kashmir issue and the repercussions of the CAA, after discussions the Saudi 
Foreign Minister had in Islamabad. It should be clear to the government that the engagement with the grouping this year was a
miscalculation. In any case, the basis of the OIC is a unity between theocratic Muslim states, an idea that India, as a secular 
country with a large Muslim population has never been aligned with. At all costs, attempts by the OIC to make statements and 
arrogate to itself the well-being of India’s Muslims must be rebuffed as gross interference.
• However, New Delhi must note that the OIC’s recent statements also stem from a broader tussle within the grouping that has 
become a concern for traditional leaders, the KSA and the UAE. The challenge comes chiefly from Malaysia, where Prime 
Minister Mahathir Mohamad has revived his plans for a “reformed” OIC, and has enlisted other challengers to the Riyadh-
Abu Dhabi domination of the pan-Islamic movement including Iran, Turkey and Qatar. In that sense, the OIC’s criticism of 
India is a clear attempt at reaffirming its leadership of the movement. New Delhi must strengthen ties with its strategic 
partners in the region on both sides of the divide without taking sides or becoming collateral damage in the internecine warfare
between them. But it must also be wary of groupings with nothing in common other than a religious world view.