Abstract:
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been used as one of the preferred modes for infrastructure
development since the last two decades in India. The PPP programme in India, though, has stabilized
significantly with lessons learnt from the experience of implementing PPP projects, but the PPPs in
India still suffers from certain shortfalls which could be related to the failure to meet many aspects of
sustainable development (SD) principles. One of the ways to overcome these shortfalls could to modify
the procurement process so as to fulfil the principles of SD even through PPP route. The main aim of
this paper is to develop a conceptual framework highlighting the strategies for integrating
sustainability principles in procurement process of PPP projects.
Content analysis on existing literatures, research reports, and case studies on PPP projects has been
adopted to first identify the shortfalls in PPP process and, secondly, examine the possible strategies
from best practices being adopted in PPP projects executed all over the world. The preliminary
framework on how to integrate the principles of sustainability is then conceptualized explaining how
the formulated strategies can be integrated into PPP process. Finally, focused interviews with the key
stakeholders of PPP projects have been undertaken to assess the feasibility of the preliminary
framework.
The preliminary findings from the study indicate the opportunities to promote SD even through PPP
route if procurement process is enhanced with respect to the following aspects by relooking the PPP
process from the perspective of SD concepts and principles: stakeholder’s participation, environment
impact assessment, value for money analysis, user’s charges and risk allocation policies, transaction
and bidding cost, and bid evaluation criteria. The proposed framework will be a useful tool for the
government to restructure the PPP procurement process in India to fulfil the SD goals, which are
being currently pursued by the government rigorously.
