The Union Cabinet is expected to set up a National Investment Board (NIB) soon to provide one-stop clearance window for big-ticket infrastructure projects.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently said that the Cabinet was expected to set up NIB sometime before end of current week.

The one-stop clearance window will reportedly provide a boost to infrastructure projects by accelerating clearances for projects that are now keep bouncing from one ministry to another for years.

An infrastructure project needs clearances from as many as nineteen central ministries, ranging from defence to environment.

Delays in clearances frustrate investors and future investments. Delays in the implementation of projects hurt economic growth. As per official figures, delays in regulatory clearances have currently delayed projects worth around two trillion rupees in the road, mining, coal and power sectors alone.

Speaking on the topic, a senior Finance Ministry official said, "The idea is nothing should be held up beyond a reasonable timeframe."

However, the National Investment Board may not be able to prove to be the panacea for a sector that is burdened with heavy layers of bureaucracy because clearances could still be held up by bureaucrats in the states where infrastructure projects are proposed.