Six months into the new financial year and almost four months in office, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath sees “ill effects” of the global downturn waning. In an interview with Mihir Mishra and Jyoti Mukul, Nath, who as the commerce and industry minister in the previous UPA government was part of the fire-fighting to minimise impact of the slowdown, says that the current year will be better than the last year. Excerpts Join discussion...

Projects and commercial partners, Tiffany Cloynes and Vincent King from law firm Cobbetts LLP look at the prospects for Private Finance Initiative (PFI) in the current economic climate. There has been some debate as to the impact of the current economic climate for PFI transactions. The contractual terms for projects which have already been signed should be robust enough to ensure that the new facilities and services are delivered as specified. Join discussion...

The Government may find it extremely difficult to achieve the investment target of $500 billion for the infrastructure sector during the XI Plan due to shortage of long-term finance, according to the Economic Survey for 2008-09. Join discussion...

Canada’s new public-private partnership (P3) office is as much about educating provinces and municipalities about the project model as it is about building itself. “The state of affairs in provinces differ and range from ones starting to think about P3s to those with significant programs ongoing and to those who have never done one or thought about it,” said John McBride, P3 Canada’s CEO. Join discussion...

Pakistan railway has decided to run non stop train "Karachi express" between Karachi and Lahore Section under private partnership in order to overcome increasing financial deficit. Application in this respect has been convened from interested parties by 6th July, an official of Pakistan railway told Online. Join discussion...

Public private partnerships (P3s) waste public money because it costs substantially more to raise capital for public infrastructure indirectly through a P3 than directly through public borrowing, according to a report released Monday by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU/CUPE). Join discussion...

Private equity firms are turning to infrastructure investing now that the credit crisis and deepening recession have put their traditional leveraged buyout businesses into suspended animation. Some of the biggest names in the private equity field — Carlyle Group, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Blackstone Group — are raising infrastructure funds that can deploy large amounts of capital. Join discussion...

The Alberta government said Friday that it will pay for four new high schools in the traditional way, rather than leasing them back over several decades through a public-private partnership as originally proposed. Education Minister Dave Hancock said in a press release that the government had “refined” the model for a package of 14 new schools announced in January 2008 in response to “the economic climate.” Join discussion...

The BC Liberals say that partnering with private companies on major infrastructure projects, like Abbotsford Hospital or the Canada Line, has saved taxpayers millions. These P3 projects, also known as public-private partnerships, are created when a private company finances, builds, and operates a project -- with taxpayers then making payments to the company for several decades in return for them bankrolling it. Join discussion...

"In the future backlog evolution, we expect an increase above all in Portugal, on the back of concessions in which are involved and the high speed train programme," Rocha told Reuters on Wednesday. Join discussion...