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• In an interview with ET Now, A Subba Rao, Group CFO, GMR Group, talks about his budget expectations for the power and infra sectors. Excerpts:

• ET Now: Your major expectations from the budget for the power sector this time?

• A Subba Rao: Why should we expect something? It is the bond and duty of the government to do what is right for the sector. So, the needs of the sector have to be taken care by the government. That is what the government should be doing. Just because we expect or do not expect, the government should not be doing or not doing anything. Everyone knows the problems for the power sector. There is a huge fuel problem. There are problems with the distributor, their ability to pay for the power they buy. So these are the problems and everybody is aware. Otherwise the country will go into darkness if we do not address these problems. So the government should address these problems.

• ET Now: So let's be specific here. The key problem which currently is impacting the entire Indian power sector is fuel supply and coal linkage. Do you expect to hear something from the government of India this time around in the Union Budget 2012?

• A Subba Rao : The coal issue has already been resolved to some extent. The thought clarity has already come. The implementation clarity has to come. How Coal India is going to organise the coal supplies to all the eligible power plants we have to wait and see. For gas, we are waiting for a solution by the government. We expect a solution shortly.

• Also read: Budget 2012 | Union Budget | Rail Budget 2012 | Budget News

• ET Now: Let's also chat about the infra space. What is it that you are expecting as far as the road sector and construction sector goes, anything that the industry has pushed in terms of social spending schemes which will aid infra spends?

• A Subba Rao: There are a lot of things which are already happening in the rural sector from the budget. The rural sector is receiving lot of support from the budget. We would expect that to continue to trigger more and more infra spending in the rural areas, which would again trigger infra spending in the urban areas. What is happening from the government, that is adequate now.

• ET Now: What about lending in financing and other debt related problems which are currently plaguing the entire infra sector? Do you expect a mention of that in this year's budget?

• A Subba Rao: Last budget, if you remember, mooted the concept of infra debt fund that has taken shape, that has to start working and what infrastructure needs is the long term availability of money at fixed rate price. So that has to be ensured and the availability of the long term resources that can be pulled and the country should be made available to the infra sector. So a lot of tax concessions are required to make that long term funding available for the infra sector. Some kind of tax concessions, incentives, particularly to motivate the public and corporates to invest in the infra sector. So we expect that kind of policy framework to be announced. But the government has its own revenue considerations. We have to see under the revenue constraints from the government what the government can do to make the long term finance available for the infra sector.

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