maharashtra is gearing up for a special purpose vehicle (spv)--an investment tool for managing the environment and controlling pollution in the state. The chief objective of the spv will be to facilitate flow of investment towards setting up of various environmental infrastructure projects such as sewage treatment plants, centralised effluent treatment facilities, air-water-noise monitoring and other such projects.
A group of secretaries (gos) has finalised the proposal for the formation of spv. It is most likely to be named Maharashtra Environment Infrastructure Development Company. The proposal will be placed before the state cabinet for approval soon.To be set up under The Companies Act, 1956, Maharashtra's spv will be a fully private firm supported by the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (mpcb).
"Environmental pollution in India is too serious a problem to be left only with the pollution control boards that are in any case ill-equipped to handle the gigantic pollution challenge. mpcb has studied the need for setting up of an spv on environmental management in Maharashtra closely. If the gos's proposal is accepted, then Maharashtra will be the first state to have such an spv," D B Boralkar, member secretary, mpcb, said.
spv is also expected to provide an interface between public and private bodies to increase efficiency. Media reports say that the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have already expressed interest in the project.
The idea of the spv took shape when mpcb mooted the need for an independent body. It said that whereas industries and local bodies had to follow stringent environmental regulations, there was a lack of sophisticated environmental infrastructure and related investment. But environmentalists and urban planners fear that setting up a wholly private spv for environmental management will facilitate privatisation of urban services, such as water supply, that the state government already seems keen to promote.
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