Creation of the 3i Network Between IDFC, IIM Ahmedabad, and IIT Kanpur

New Delhi, 12 November 1999

 Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman and Managing Director, IDFC, Prof. J.Saha, Director IIM, Ahmedabad, Prof. K.A. Padmanabhan, Director IIT, Kanpur signed an MoU in New Delhi today creating the 3i Network for infrastucture development.

 The world over, infrastucture development is increasingly attractive private investments, as governments move away from being the primary investor and manager of infrastructure assets. Public private partnerships are being forged to manage the transition from public ownership, management and control to private operations with an eventful transfer of owenership to the private sector.

 Here in India, we are experiencing similar trends as governments have less and less resources to invest in complex and extensive infrastructure requirements of a rapidly growing economy in a globalisin world.

 Private participation will require a major re-evaluation of the legal, fiscal, regulatory, technological and conceptual issues that arise when stimulating a migration from public sector to private sector development. The framework conditions will need to change fundamentally from those existing today and the underpinnings of a new paradigm will need to emerge very rapidly. All of this will require a considerable degree of detaled study and applied research.

 While IDFC, through its Policy Advisory Boards, is leading this process in Power and Ports and shortly in integrated transportation logistics and Telecom and IT, it is necessary to harness a larger participation from the academic community that are also working on some of these issues.

 IDFC has taken the lead to create a '3I Network' consisting of two of our leading academic institutions - the Indian Institute of Technology - Kanpur and the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad to help in this task.

 Purpose

 The 3I (Three I) network is being established to provide a systematic and organised framework in which much of the new agenda can be enunciated and researched with a view to contribute immediately to the unfolding infrastructure investment climate. The emphasis will be on gathering the best managerial and technical expertise available in the academic community to focus attention on the crucial issues that need to be addressed. Through them, it is hoped that both the academic and the young research student community will also be influenced to work on topics of great relevance to the needs of the economy.
                                                                                                                                        The 3I Network is just a beginning towards creating this broader network that can be harnessed to a specific end. It adds to the mission of IDFC which is to lead private capital to commercially viable infrastucture projects in India. The 3I network will lead intellectual captial for the same purpose. Indeed the intellectual capital is needed right now to ensure the proper framework conditions for private participation in infrastucture investments.

 Inter institutional linkages will be leveraged in the fullest manner possible for a multidisciplinary perspective. Issues will be addressed with a focus on synergy across different infrastucture sectors. The level of research activity would be accelerated through workshops, discussion groups and consultations. These activities would help in the growth of the network and improve inter-institutional co-operation.

 In due course, it is expected that the network would receive co-operation from sector specific research institutions, management, science and technological institutions and other IITs and IIMs, and international institutions such as The World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.

 One of the main outputs of the Network will be the annual publication of the Indian Infrastucture Development Report. The report would be a vehicle to provide an up-to-date status of infrastucture in India. It would also bring into focus the best practices folowed elsewhere to resolve problems faced by developers, providers of infrastructure services and financing instutions. The report would also include important papers on the conceptual basis for commercialising infrastructure services and would be developed through a series of background seminars to be held under the auspices of the Network.

Commitments
IDFC
IIT Kanpur and IIM Ahmedabad