Well-articulated policies contribute significantly to scaling up PPP initiatives in a structured manner and contribute significantly to smooth implementation at the project level. Policy formulation for PPPs typically involves initiatives to signal Government commitment to PPPs, to spread awareness of PPP concepts and their applicability across sectors and to support line Ministries in developing and implementing PPP programmes.
Apex level PPP units or nodal Ministries/agencies such as the Ministry/Department of infrastructure or finance often have the responsibility to communicate on PPPs as a concept. Dedicated institutions set up by State Governments such as Infrastructure Development Boards also play an important role in communicating policy and conceptual issues relating to PPPs. For instance, States like Punjab and Gujarat have set up Infrastructure Development Boards to facilitate development of infrastructure.
Policy-making is typically the responsibility of senior officials in various arms of the Government such as the Ministry of Finance, various line Ministries/Departments, Niti Ayog, nodal PPP agencies and other implementing agencies. Governments also interact with external organisations such as research institutions, development agencies and multilateral/bilateral agencies while formulating policies for various sectors.
While designing communication strategies in the context of policy formulation, a policy maker needs to address three objectives:
1. Soliciting Inputs: The policy maker may not be aware of all the solutions to a given problem or the ramifications of specific solutions to issues raised by various stakeholders. This is more so in the case of policy formulation in general and PPP in particular, where multiple disciplines (economics, engineering, science, law, and sociology to name a few) are involved, and there may not be precedents to provide guidance.
2. Identifying and resolving policy conflicts: Positions that the Government may want to take could potentially be in conflict with other policy objectives and extant legislation, which may need to be revised to ensure policy consistency. Some issues may require extensive inter-departmental deliberations to arrive at a shared understanding.
3. Mobilising stakeholder support and consensus: Given that policy decisions tend to impact a cross-section of stakeholders, there is need to establish consensus and acceptability among a cross-section of stakeholders both within and outside the Government, both during formulation (and review) and dissemination after arriving at a consensus.