Sceptics of the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) have been proved wrong as projects worth around ₹40,000 crore have been cleared this year, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
Inaugurating a seminar on the ``Opportunities and challenges in public sector investment funding” conducted by the KIIFB here on Saturday, Mr. Vijayan said the State would witness a development surge once the alternative development model set against the neo-liberal reforms being pursued by the Centre attained fruition.
The business mode in vogue seeks to privatise public land resources and the public was being forced to give user fee. It was in this context that the State had deviated from the traditional investment course and experimented an alternate development model with adequate legal safeguards, he said.
As specific cases, Mr. Vijayan cited the ₹1,781-crore given to the Public Works Department, ₹227 crore for constructing three flyovers for the light metro, ₹686 crore for general education sector, ₹74 crore for the Scheduled Castes Development Department for renovating post-matric hostels, and ₹45 crore for working women’s hostel as some of the projects cleared by the board.
He said that certain quarters were raising questions about the funds garnered and the mode of executing projects. Funds were being raised against projects and there was no room for doubts about execution. While the State was sharing its experience it was also exploring the possibilities of this alternative funding model, he said.
