Minister of Commerce & Industry, Railways and Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Shri Piyush Goyal chaired a meeting for the review of 20 large-scale infrastructure projects with issues enlisted for resolution, with the Project Monitoring Group on the 29th of June, 2021. Shri Som Prakash, Minister of State for Commerce and Industry, Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Chief Secretaries of Governments of Bihar, Haryana and Tamil Nadu, and Additional Chief Secretary, Industries of Government of Maharashtra participated through Video Conference. Senior officials of key Central Ministries including Railways, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Road Transport and Highways, Environment, Forest and Climate Change were also present to discuss issues affecting the progress of work and timely completion of these critical projects.

The Minister of Commerce and Industry reviewed 59 issues in 20 critical infrastructure projects with anticipated investment value of nearly ₹2.7 lakh crores. This includes 11 projects previously reviewed under PRAGATI by the Hon’ble Prime Minister.

Among the projects reviewed, a few notable names are as follows:

• Dedicated Freight Corridors along eastern and western routes will augment capacity of rail freight transportation and establish industrial zones at junction points
• Amritsar Kolkata Industrial Corridor traverses through 7 States and facilitate development of industrial manufacturing in the influence region of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor

Shri Goyal issued directions and timelines to ensure expeditious resolution of pending issues for timely commissioning of projects. The Minister also emphasized the importance of regular multi-level monitoring of infrastructure projects that are critical to the economic growth and employment generation in the country.

Critical infrastructure project monitoring: directives issued to resolve pending issues and enforce multi-level timelines and oversight. The Commerce and Industry Minister chaired a Project Monitoring Group review of 59 issues across 20 critical infrastructure projects, highlighting the Dedicated Freight Corridors and the Amritsar-Kolkata Industrial Corridor; directions were issued to ministries and states to adopt specific timelines, expedite pending approvals and institutionalise multi-level monitoring to protect project schedules and promote economic growth.