The Last Word: Praful Patel Is India Finally Taking Off? Newsweek International
Feb. 20, 2006 issue - One of the most obvious differences between Asia's two giants, China and India, has long been the state of their infrastructure. Whereas Beijing has laid thousands of kilometers of gleaming road and spread futuristic airports across the country, visitors to India are still greeted by airport terminals that look held together by glue and string. Last week nearly 22,000 union workers went on strike to protest the government's decision to renovate New Delhi and Mumbai airports through partnerships with foreign companies, fearing they would lose their jobs and benefits. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel remained unmoved and, after three days of chaos, outlasted the strikers. NEWSWEEK's Ron Moreau spoke to the stylish 49-year-old Patel about what the victory means for reform in India. MOREAU: Were the strikes a serious setback to airport privatization? PATEL: Not at all. The process has moved forward. The airport employees did pro-test, but I think by and large the majority of workers did report to duty. Therefore the airports functioned normally, and we have been able to complete the process [of privatization]. And the workers have accepted it. Do you fear that similar strikes and pro-tests will break out when other airport-privatization contracts are announced, for example in Kolkata, where workers also staged protests? We are committed to upgrading infrastructure. Therefore we are not just looking at two airports. We have identified 35 other airports that are going to be upgraded to global standards in public-private partnerships on the nonaeronautical side. We already have Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore, with [the last] two coming up as greenfield airports. On Kolkata and Chennai we have yet to decide the way forward. How much will the government be spending in the next five years on airports and other major infrastructure projects? It will spend in the next five years at least $30 billion on infrastructure. Airports alone will account for $5 billion. Will the left continue to be a serious drag on all of India's crucial infrastructure- modernization plans? In the case of the airports, we have demonstrated for the first time that we mean serious business. And we have taken the process forward. For our government it is the first serious big-ticket step forward in infrastructure. In terms of aviation we have achieved a remarkable thing, because Mumbai and Delhi count for more than 50 percent of our total international and domestic traffic. And if we can do these two immediately, and also Bangalore and Hyderabad, which count for another 15 percent, we will have a fair amount of our airport infrastructure completed in this phase one. So the outcome of the recent strikes is avictory for the government? You can interpret it that way. It's the first major step forward for the infrastructure development of the government. Why can't India move as quickly ahead on infrastructure development as China? We have the strength of democracy. We have to factor in different shades of opinion. In China the government decides, and it's done. That's all. They don't have to factor in process or the various checks and balances, like we do. We are accountable to Parliament, government institutions, the media and stakeholders. I'm not saying that China is heaven. But this is the first major commitment of the government to make infrastructure happen. Is China overbuilding? You hit the nail on the head. In the case of airports, roads or whatever, they have built a huge overcapacity, hoping that the demand will follow. In India what we have done in aviation is that we have created a demand, and now the infrastructure is forced to follow. So the pressure is there on every front to build infrastructure as quickly as possible. We could have planned better in the past, but having lost that opportunity we have to make up for the lost time. What are the consequences for India if the infrastructure modernization does happen as quickly as it should? Speaking of airports, it will. There's a punishing schedule that has been mandated. We have penalties and guarantees, so we should be able to complete Mumbai and Delhi by March of 2010. That's important, for we need to demonstrate to everyone in the world and to our own people that we mean serious business. (c) 2006 Newsweek, Inc.
