‘Infrastructure will be improved like New Delhi airport’

NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday termed as “excellent” the new airport terminal here and assured similar efforts to spruce up the country’s infrastructure with private sector’s support.

“There is a large deficit in our physical infrastructure which affects our economic development adversely,” the prime minister said in his Independence Day address to the nation.

He said there was a shortfall in supply of electricity to industry and other areas alike, while roads, ports and airports were also not of world standards, all of which needed large investments.

“But the resources required to create good physical infrastructure are difficult for the government alone to mobilise. Therefore, we have endeavoured to involve the private sector in our efforts,” he said.

“About one and half a months back, I dedicated a new terminal of the Delhi airport to the nation. This is an excellent terminal which has been completed in record time,” the prime minister said.

“We will continue to make such efforts to improve our infrastructure.”

Termed the sixth largest in the world, the new Terminal 3 of the Delhi airport, inaugurated by the prime minister July 3, was built in record 37 months at the cost of nearly $3 billion.

The airport’s developers are led by the Bangalore-based infrastructure major GMR Group, with the state-run Airports Authority of India, Fraport of Germany and Malaysian Airport Holding as members of the consortium.