Dikhyaa Mohanty 
The Odisha government announced a new Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy, 2023, almost a month after the Cabinet gave its approval. This policy aims to accelerate the expansion of PPPs in public infrastructure by luring private investment. It will be applicable to all infrastructure projects, including those involving inland waterways, inland bridges, bypasses, ports, harbors, railroads, airports, helipads, industrial parks, logistic hubs, water supply, tourism, sports, healthcare, and education. According to the announcement made by the Finance Department, user fees will also be assessed to increase the projects’ financial viability and their suitability for private sector involvement.
The user fee mechanism, which is said to be essential to the success of PPPs as they incentivize project proponents to become more efficient, will be guided by principles of cost recovery and an acceptable return on investment to the private sector, incentives for efficiency, and willingness to pay. According to the policy, projects with capital expenditures up to Rs 10 crore will be approved by the state government’s director of the PPP Cell, provided that they do not require any help from the Odisha Infrastructure Development Fund (OIDF) or the state Viability Gap Funding (VGF).
The Chief Secretary is the chairperson of the Empowered Committee on Infrastructure (ECI), which has been constituted to ensure adequate project monitoring. The ECI will approve PPP projects costing between Rs 10 crore and Rs 500 crore as well as bids costing more than Rs 500 crore. A PPP committee will also be set up at the district level under the direction of the district collector to coordinate and streamline the execution of such infrastructure projects.
