India plans infrastructure development fund

India plans infrastructure development fund    India plans to set up an $11 billion debt fund to help finance much-needed infrastructure projects, according to a Bloomberg report May 13.
   The plan is to refinance lending institutions in the booming nation, which has struggled to keep pace with Asian neighbor China's rapid development of roads, rails, airports and ports.
   India is targeting $1 trillion in infrastructure spending from 2012 to 2017 to narrow the gap with China. Aside from transportation infrastructure, there are looming shortfalls in electricity and water.
   'India's per capita spending on city development is $17 each year, just 15 percent of what China spends, according to a report released by McKinsey & Co. last month,' the Bloomberg report said. 'India will have 68 cities with a population of more than 1 million people, 13 cities with more than 4 million people and six mega cities with populations of 10 million or more, at least two of which will be among the five largest cities in the world by 2030.'
   The government has estimated the unloading of cargo ships in India takes 10 times longer than in Hong Kong, while average truck speeds are less than 13 mph due to lack of road capacity and poor maintenance.