India Infrastructure Report 2003: Public Expenditure Allocation and Accountability

The India Infrastructure Report 2003 focuses on how public expenditure allocation in the context of infrastructural services has been made so far and who is accountable for such expenditure. The provision of economic infrastructure in the country remains overwhelmingly the responsibility of the government. The constitution apportions the responsibility to different tiers of the government. A large part of the government’s planned expenditure is spent on infrastructure and yet over half a century after independence, the country has poor infrastructure. IIR 2003 explores pertinent issues such as: Evolving criteria for allocation of funds as per the recommendation of the central finance commission and state finance commissions to strengthen decentralization efforts; The relationship between state and urban local bodies in the expenditure process and the manner in which grants are made and utilized; The use of multilateral funding for urban infrastructure, the mode by which projects are prepared, designed and executed; Differences in the willingness to charge for infrastructure services by urban local bodies; A case study of the budgetary processes for Greater Mumbai Municipal Corporation and BEST; The process of reaching the annual capital expenditure spending and long-term plan estimates and managing budget exigencies.; Private Financing Initiatives (PFI) to build and operate infrastructure projects have been initiated by governments in many countries to provide better infrastructure services. The experience of PFIs in Britain and other countries, their successes and failures, and possible lessons for India are reviewed. The report is an invaluable resource for those in government, academia, business and financial circles.