PURA

Ministry of Rural Development had conducted an Empanelment process for short listing the technically eligible firms. Accordingly, Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India has finalised a panel of pre-qualified Independent Engineers to assist MoRD with the implementation of PURA Scheme. MoRD has issued a notification dated May 3, 2012 for empanelled list of Independent Enginners. Please see attachment for the official notification .

The redesigned PURA program, orPURA 2.0, approved by the Government of India (GoI) in 2011 aims at  making “doable” the overarching vision of the original PURA concept. It combines infrastructure development for a village cluster with mandatory development of skills development, economic activity generation and additional  revenue generating activities through a PPP modality.

The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) supported by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), worked  together over a 3 year period from conceptualisation of PURA 2.0 to awareness building and  finally rolling out pilot projects. Two of these pilot projects in the state of Kerala were concessioned through a signing of contracts between the local panchayat and PPP partner (INKEL Ltd) in the presence of the honourable Minister for MORD. 

With a view to sensitize stakeholders for future pilot projects, MoRD and ADB hosted a 2 day workshop at Trivandrum, Kerala 22-24 March 2012. This revisited the PURA vision, PURA 2.0 features, pilot project structures and process as well as invited detailed presentations from PPP players on their pilot project clusters with a focus on key issues faced and future road maps. PPP partners especially noted the need for PURA 2.0 projects to be categorized as 'infrastructure' projects to qualify for tax breaks and access to funds such as RIDF (Rural Infrastructure Development Fund) of NABARD.

ADB experts including from various state PPP Cells also participated in the workshop with a view to facilitating  a widening of the foot print for future pilot projects. Mr. Muruganandan, Joint Secretary, MORD opened the workshop with a welcome address to all participants. Dr. Mayaram, Additional Secretary & Financial Advisor, MoRD outlined the future contours of PURA 2.0, noting that the PPP approach in PURA 2.0 is breaking new ground for both government and private sector leading to vital learnings for developing rural infrastructure. Despite the challenges faced by all stakeholders there was strong reaffirmation in commitment as both government and private partners are incorporating these lessons to restructure the PURA 2.0 model further. This would result in much faster roll out in the future with a second phase of pilot projects being noted as commencing shortly and spreading the impact ofPURA 2.0 across the country.

ADB's Deputy Country Director Mr. N. Rao as well as PPP Focal Point Mr. Anouj Mehta  also outlined the key assistance provided by ADB as well as the ongoing road-map of activities to support the second phase of pilot projects.

Dates : March, 22nd and 23rd 2012

Agenda : Click to see

Contact For Event Details :

(i)     Shri D.K. Singh, Deputy Secretary - Tel: 23073702 Mob: 9868465568 (e-mail: dks.dca@nic.in).

(ii)    Shri Manish Tiwari, ADB Consultant – Mobile: 9911223415 (e-mail: manish.adb@gmail.com).

Venue : Leela Kovalam,Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

Photos :

Note : Please Click "Read More" to see list of attendees and presentation links