The Bengal Chamber organised the BCC&I Infrastructure Summit 2018 on 19th July at The Lalit Great Eastern, Kolkata. This was the third edition of our annual Summit, and the principal objective was to create a platform for all infrastructure stakeholders to discuss, analyze, share best practices and bring forward the opportunities in infrastructure and related logistics sectors, especially the cutting-edge developments of today.

Our objective was to create the largest and most relevant forum in the East so that this Summit creates the effective platform for infrastructure-related business development discussions and brings the Government together with private Infrastructure players, corporates and consultants.

Infrastructure sector is a key driver for the Indian economy. The sector is highly responsible for propelling India’s overall development and enjoys intense focus from Government for initiating policies that would ensure time-bound creation of world class infrastructure in the country. Infrastructure sector includes power, bridges, dams, roads and urban infrastructure development. In 2016, India jumped 19 places in World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2016, to rank 35th amongst 160 countries. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) received in Construction Development sector (townships, housing, built up infrastructure and construction development projects) from April 2000 to December 2017 stood at US$ 24.67 billion, according to the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP). The logistics sector in India is expected to increase at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.5 per cent, from US$ 160 billion in 2017 to US$ 215 billion by 2020. India’s national highway network is expected to cover 50,000 kilometres by 2019, with around 20,000 km of works scheduled for completion in the next couple of years, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Government of India is devising a plan to provide WiFi facility to 550,000 villages by March 2019 for an estimated cost of Rs 3,700 crore (US$ 577.88 million), as per the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. The Government of India is expected to invest highly in the infrastructure sector, mainly highways, renewable energy and urban transport, prior to the general elections in 2019. The Government of India is taking every possible initiative to boost the infrastructure sector. However the overall infrastructure development exercise should be an integrated effort in a cooperative federalism structure. We need to ensure high Gross Capital Formation over the years incorporating correct data including all the states. The objective of this forum was to understand the direction and volume of infrastructure development of various states and how much they are integrated with the planning and overall infrastructure development of the nation.

It was an honour to have the presence of Shri V Kalyana Rama, Chairman & Managing Director, Container Corporation of India Ltd. in an exclusive Session as a Special Guest of the Summit. The other guests at the Inaugural Session were Mr. Sunil Mitra, Chairman, Economic affairs Committee, BCC&I and Former Secretary, Department of Revenue and Department of Finance, Govt. of India; Mr. Raghav Raj Kanoria, Managing Director, India Power Corporation Ltd.; Mr. K V Praveen, Executive Vice President & Business Unit Head, Roads, Runways and Elevated Corridor Business, Larsen & Toubro Limited; Mr. Rakesh Kumar, General Manager, IIFCL; and Mr. Manish Agarwal, Partner, Infrastructure Advisory - ‎PricewaterhouseCoopers India.

Summit also witnessed the deliberation of eminent speakers like Mr. S P GonChaudhuri, Chairman, State Solar Power Council, Government of Tripura and Chairman, International Solar Innovation Council; Mr. SushilAgarwal, Chief Financial Officer, India Power Ltd. and Mr. Malay Chatterjee, Former CMD, KIOCL.

The Summit also witnessed the participation of large audience and eminent industry players and widely covered in different medias.