Political interference in opposing land acquisitions for populist sentiments could make things difficult for infrastructure growth, ONGC Ltd chairman R S Sharma said on Thursday.
While inherent problems in land acquisition and time consuming procedures, unless fixed, could continue to pose a challenge to the execution of projects, resentment among the public is being exploited by politicians for ?populist sentiments?, Sharma said, referring to protests such as Nandigram.
Addressing the National Quality Summit 2010 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in Bangalore, the ONGC chief said poor infrastructure and lack of inclusive growth would prove to be ?retarding? for high economic growth. He cited the example of the seven-hour drive from Delhi to the ONGC headquarters in Dehradun, a distance of 250 km, because of the congestion on the roads. The pace of infrastructure development and inclusive growth will be key to sustain India’s high growth rate, he added.
While the Maoists insurgency is getting intense, inclusive growth is not taking place on the ground, Sharma said. As the number of Indian featuring in the global rich list is growing, so is the number of those living below the poverty line, he added. ?That is building up resentment. It will be difficult to sustain growth unless we involve the have-nots as part of the fruits of economic growth,? he said.