We need infrastructure for people, not for the corrupt.

"When done well, infrastructure investment can revive flagging economies and pay for itself, by galvanizing  private-sector activity and fostering economic growth. But when done poorly, public infrastructure spending can lead to corruption and waste," writes Paolo Mauro, an Assistant Director in the African Department at the International Monetary Fund. We are suffering the effects of such corruption in India. Non-performing assets, or bad loans, in public sector banks have risen by 56% in 2016 and by 135% in the last 2 years, which hinders the ability of these banks to lend for fresh projects. "Bad loans are the result of the government ordering banks to support big, growth-promoting, but risky infrastructure projects during India's boom years -- and then politically connected companies procuring bridge loans when those projects turned sour," writes Mihir Sharma for Bloomberg.  Gross NPAs of banks have reached a colossal Rs 6.15 trillion from Rs 2.62 trillion  in 2 years. At least 5 state banks have gross NPAs over 15%. "People who earn $200 per year spend only 1% of their income on transportation, compared to 18% for people earning $20,000," writes Mauro. "In the next two decades, the number of people earning $6,000-$20,000 will increase by more than one billion, and many of them will purchase their first car. Meanwhile, the number of people with annual incomes of $20,000 and above will increase by almost 800 million, and many of them will begin to fly for leisure." India desperately needs to build quality infrastructure and for that we need private investment. Trouble is that Indians do not trust the private sector. A survey in 2015 showed that 80% of Indians believe that businesses in India are corrupt. Instead of helping businesses to improve quality of service to consumers and encouraging innovation the government passed a Corporate Social Responsibility Act which forces companies to spend 2% of their profits on social welfare. Building infrastructure costs a lot of money, so it is no use building 8 airports at a cost of $50 million which no one is prepared to use. One problem is that politicians are hungry to tax everything out of existence so Delhi Airport costs Air India 230% more than Dubai. Trucks burn up $21.3 billion worth of fuel every year queuing up at toll plazas which extort money every 20 km or so. The private sector maybe poor but corporate governance at government companies is even worse. Maharashtra spent Rs 700 billion on irrigation projects but has little to show for it. Has anyone gone to prison? No. Instead the government is busy diluting the Prevention Of Corruption Act. As Mauro said infrastructure is vital but a great source of corruption. Especially in India.