Clearances being speeded up: FM

The government is trying to improve the investment climate by ensuring that expeditious regulatory clearances are accorded to major projects,  Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Thursday.

 “Regulatory clearances for major projects are being expedited to improve investment and production capacity in manufacturing sector... These measures are expected to contain inflation,” he said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.

WPI inflation for October at 7.45 per cent was much higher than the RBI comfort level of 5-6 per cent. Retail inflation stood at 9.90 per cent in November.

Besides the monetary measures which operate on demand side, the government has been taking steps to reduce supply-related bottlenecks. “Since the production and investment in these sectors is largely dependent on business expectation and conducive investment climate  government has taken various measures to improve business sentiments,” Chidambaram said.

He said that the government has announced a road map for fiscal consolidation and has reduced uncertainty or apprehension relating to some of the provisions of the tax policy.

In a separate reply, Chidambaram said that an accommodative monetary policy in advanced economies and supply constraints may keep some key global commodity prices volatile and at elevated levels.

 “Domestic prices of manufacturing products, petroleum products except kerosene  LPG and diesel, and some food products, particularly edible oils, are impacted both by the domestic availability of these products, global commodity prices and exchange rates,” he said.