1.write The concept of charactrstics of infrastructure?
Infrastructure refers to all such activities, services, and facilities needed to provide different kinds of
services in an economy. Simply put, it is the support system for the economic and social development
of the country. Infrastructure is crucial for a country’s economic development. The infrastructure of a
country is the framework that helps it develop economically and socially. The infrastructure facilities
are crucial for the development of agriculture, industry, and now, increasingly, the services sector.
Social development also depends on the development of the infrastructure. Since India’s economic
reforms in 1991, the government has placed a significant emphasis on infrastructure development.
The basic characteristics of Infrastructure are as follows:
1. Infrastructure facilities are generally available to large groups of people
2.Infrastructure helps deliver essential services for the functioning of an organization or society
3.Infrastructure helps achieve economic and social objectives
4.Infrastructure is the base upon which society and its activities rest
5.They are large networks constructed over generations which are not often replaced as a whole
system.
6.The system or network has a long and indefinite life because its service capacity is maintained in
perpetuity (by continual refurbishment or replacement of components as they wear out).
7.The assets have a high initial cost and a value which is difficult to determine.
, 2.Explian The common Misconception about public-private
partnership(PPP)?
we have delved into a few of the most common misconceptions about PPP's: With PPP, private
sector provides an alternate source of funding: This is one of the most frequently quoted and
misunderstood aspects of PPPs. Private sector does not FUND public infrastructure projects, rather
they FINANCE them.
Every society needs infrastructure to function and access to good public infrastructure defines the
basic quality of life for many people across different segments of the population. The growing trend
of urbanization has put into spotlight the need for better public infrastructure like never before.
While countries in the developed world like the US are faced with an aging and crumbling
infrastructure, in the developing world like India the need is for provisioning new infrastructure to
meet the demands and aspirations of a growing urban population.In addition to the need for capital,
a combination of factors has brought to limelight Public Private Partnerships (PPP or P3 or Private
Finance Initiative (PFI) ) as one possible answer for the public infrastructure investment challenge
facing many countries. Some of the key factors include: structural reforms that promote Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in key infrastructure sectors in emerging economies like India, country
specific corporate tax reforms that provide greater incentives for private sector to invest in public
infrastructure projects, growing appetite of institutional investors to invest in public infrastructure
assets, lack of expertise in the public sector and the ability of private sector to better manage risks
and efficiently execute complex infrastructure projects. With any trend that has a lot of buzz
surrounding it, there is also lot of misunderstanding that goes along with it. PPP's are no exception.
I've delved into a few of the most common misconceptions about PPP's:
With PPP, private sector provides an alternate source of funding: This is one of the most frequently
quoted and misunderstood aspects of PPPs. Private sector does not FUND public infrastructure
projects, rather they FINANCE them. It's important to understand the subtle difference between
infrastructure funding and financing. And private financing is just one aspect of a comprehensive PPP
arrangement. In many large public infrastructure projects, financing could be from multiple sources
and some PPP projects may not involve private financing. PPP arrangements across projects can
range from the most simplest of PPP procurement model like Design-Build model to a more
comprehensive one like Design-Build-Finance-Operate-Maintain model..
PPP is a panacea for all public infrastructure challenges: As much excitement as there is about the
possibilities for private sector investment to help address the public infrastructure issues facing many
countries, there are certain categories of projects that fit better into a PPP model. If private financing
in a project will be expected, a key criteria will be to understand the project funding model i.e. how
the investment will be repaid to the private investors along with a reasonable Return on Investment
(RoI). If the project cannot generate sufficient revenue to meet the payment obligations, the
possibility of attracting private investment is next to none. For PPP projects where private financing
will not be involved, a clear understanding on the value private sector will bring in terms of
innovation, operational efficiency, risk management or other best practices need to be clearly laid
out.
PPP is a path to privatization: By definition PPP's are contractual agreements between a public
agency and a private sector entity to deliver a service or facility for use by the general public. During
the contractual term, the private entity gets only leasing rights to manage the asset and/or deliver
services according to negotiated Service Level Agreements (SLA's). The private entity can claim no
additional rights on the asset including: selling it, raising additional funds using it or mortgaging it.
Beyond the contractual term, complete control of the asset is transferred back to the public agency.
3.what are the factors that determine basic service provsion?
Threshold population
Demographic profile (age and gender profile)
Ability to pay/income profile
Physical infrastructure
Distribution of existing services
Density
Cultural profile of the community
Target community needs
4. What are barriers of the private sector partcipation in infrastructure
provsion and describe each barrier?
legal barriers
Legal barriers to entry refer to laws and regulations that make it difficult for new businesses to enter
a market and compete with existing firms. These barriers can take many forms and can be
implemented at the federal, state, or local level.
Poletical barriers
Physical political barriers refer to physical structures or boundaries that separate two political
entities, often erected for the purpose of controlling movement or preventing interaction between
them.
Economical barriers
There are various economic barriers to economic growth/development. Lack of access to
infrastructure and appropriate technology (highways, railroads, internet, etc.) Dependence on
primary sector production (fishing, mining, farming, etc.): One bad yield one year and the economy
suffers greatly.
oprational barriers
. A human action or response that results in the activation of a physical barrier, thereby enhancing
the total system reliability. NOTE Operational barriers by themselves do not constitute a physical
barrier. EXAMPLES Process to close BOPs; the detection of an influx.
5. Explian The major condtion to improve the prformance of infrstructure?
We all agree that we want quality infrastructure,
because we know that quality reduces project risks,
increases availability and durability over a project’s
lifecycle, improves customer experience and as such
makes the infrastructure worth the investment. But
how can we ensure quality?
The IDB –as well as other development banks– uses a
suite of safeguard policies to ensure the environmental
and social quality of the infrastructure projects it
finances. While this helps project owners comply with
certain minimum environmental and social standards,
this must be accompanied by a process of continuous
improvement as is standard in quality management. To
that end we must clearly define what sustainable
infrastructure is and how it can be achieved and
sustained over time.
Taken in its broadest sense, sustainable infrastructure
encompasses all four sustainability dimensions: social,
environmental, economic and institutional
sustainability. With institutional sustainability I mean
an institutional set up which ensures good governance,
that is adequate upstream planning, preparation,
execution and operation of infrastructure projects by
transparency, accountability, measurability, and
trackability of results. The importance of this was
recently highlighted by Garry Bowditch, a leading
Australian infrastructure expert. Bowditch stresses the
importance of “institutional architecture to help the
various parts of the infrastructure system work
together – markets, land use, planning, approvals,
project prioritization, funding, financing, delivery and
operation”. This architecture is crucial because it can
provide the certainty needed for long term investments
and the avenues to manage and mitigate the inherent
risks of infrastructure projects. More specifically, in his
paper “Infrastructure Imperatives for Australia”
Bowditch identifies three imperatives for better
infrastructure project preparation and implementation,
which can serve as critical recommendations for the
development of sustainable projects financed by the
IDB:
1. Create markets for infrastructure projects and
services,
The rationale is to change the way how infrastructure is
managed: “Governments typically approach
infrastructure procurement on a project-by-project
basis and as a result their interactions with the market
are often uncoordinated and fragmented. When
demand from government is lumpy and ‘stop-go’ in
nature this can exacerbate the cost of infrastructure
and lower the quality of market responses.” This affects
the development of the infrastructure market and the
ability of bidders to provide best possible services and
innovation.
A unified market for infrastructure assets and services
makes sure all the different parts of the infrastructure
system work together. It ensures proper planning and
avoids the common pitfalls of infrastructure
procurement: e.g. that infrastructure is treated as a
static-physical asset and is procured without proper
consideration of the services it will deliver, or that new
infrastructure is instead of choosing to renovate and/or
make better use of existing infrastructure. A strong
infrastructure market should be defined as having:
long term pipeline of projects,
strong private sector participation and ownership,
a shift from assets to outcomes and service delivery,
innovation, responsiveness, and ability to scale-up,
full cost recovery,
regulations to protect the long term interests of
consumers in the absence of market competition.
2. Enhance the attractiveness of infrastructure projects
for private funding
Mobilizing private funding for infrastructure projects is
crucial to bridge the infrastructure gap in Latin America
and the Caribbean, and indeed elsewhere in the World.
For this we need improved transparency in the
infrastructure project generation process, higher
certainty concerning the framework conditions for
project execution and reduced risk for the operation
phase. A long term infrastructure pipeline and better,
broader and more independent cost benefit analysis
are the major levers to reach this. It is therefore
recommended by Bowditch that:
To implement a consistent and unified methodology for
cost benefit appraisals to have better comparability,
and ensure full transparency for all public projects
listed for consideration including those rejected,
A culture of continuous improvement for project
evaluations by reviewing them upon completion and 10
years after,
To align infrastructure funding and capital market
development through long-term bond market
development, superannuation and pension fund
preferences, and
To enhance investment attractiveness through higher
asset utilization: For this, price signals should guide
supply and demand for infrastructure; full cost
recovery should improve the attractiveness of private
investment; and new technologies can enhance asset
utilization.
3. Overhaul infrastructure for radical innovation and
productivity growth
Improving productivity and harnessing the power of
innovation in the infrastructure sector are important
preconditions for increased infrastructure productivity.
The recommended methods to promote this are:
Placing outcomes as the central premise in
infrastructure procurement is an innovation in itself,
but also a catalyst for innovation in the provision
infrastructure services as it shifts the focus from the
physical attributes of an asset to the service to be
delivered.
High quality decisions which reflect the whole of
government considerations ensure consistency and a
streamlined approval process which is the most
important precondition for efficient implementation.
Long–term strategic land acquisition based on prior
identification of strategic land corridors in cities and
regions speeds up project implementation as it avoids
delays from property disputes.
Well qualified, multidisciplinary and teams in the
relevant government agencies, equipped with the
necessary decision making power and actively involving
the project contractor are crucial for speed and quality
of the delivery process.
Better information and analytics for infrastructure
construction and operation and the use of big data for
infrastructure service planning can dramatically boost
the performance of existing infrastructure assets as
well as the efficiency and optimization of new
infrastructure service offerings
In order to improve the quality of our infrastructure,
institutions for good governance are key. While this
topic is primarily in the sovereign responsibility of our
partner countries, Multilateral Development Banks can
help: for example, with workshops on how to set up
and operate national project evaluation and
preparation facilities. The IDB organized one in
Colombia and one in Paraguay in the last 12 months. It
can also help to support platforms for the standardized
presentation of infrastructure projects for the
investment community. That is why the IDB recently
hosted the launching of the International Infrastructure
Support System: a platform of the sustainable
infrastructure foundation, which is supported by a
broad alliance of National and Multilateral
Development Banks. Setting up an “ecosystem for
quality infrastructure” still requires additional efforts,
but we have taken the first steps, and we know the
environmental, social and economic gains will be
immense.
6. Disscuss the imoprtance of infrastracture for urban development
Infrastructure plays a critical role in urban development and is essential for the functioning and
growth of cities. Infrastructure includes the physical systems, facilities, and services that support the
daily lives of people and businesses in an urban area.
community. It is essential to consider the social and environmental implications of infrastructure
development and to involve the community in the decision-making process.
Infrastructure development is critical for the growth and sustainability of urban areas. It enhances
economic growth, improves the quality of life of residents, increases property value, and promotes
sustainability. However, it is essential to consider the challenges and considerations associated with
infrastructure development and involve the community in the decision-making process. By doing so,
we can transform urban landscapes and create a better future for all residents.
7.How Density can influence the efficiency of infrastructure? explian
it.
Urban density reflects the number of people living in an area and
influences how the area functions. Focusing increased densities in
and around locations that have good access to high-frequency public
transport, employment and services will create communities that are
well-planned and use land efficiently.
Higher population density means less area per person to cover with
infrastructure.
So, higher population density should result in higher quality of human
infrastructure per square kilometer (if also often a lower quality of
natural infrastructure).
You also have revenue and pork-barrel politics as variables of
infrastructure quality. An electorate of a politician (or Party) known
to practice selling their (federal, state, LGA) votes to
parliament/congress for increased public spending where their voters
live (often in rural and retirement communities in Australia) is pork-
barrelling, and these communities tend to have lower per capita
revenue (since the locals hate paying tax) and higher pork-barreling
(since the locals value their wants over national needs). So the other
electorates subsidize the locals. Just like the billionaires paying no tax
everywhere.
