The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Act, 2012 (Tamil Nadu Act No. 22 of 2012)

What the Act governs

The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Act, 2012 applies across Tamil Nadu. It provides an institutional framework for identifying, prioritising and implementing infrastructure projects, including projects involving private sector participation.

The Act generally applies to projects exceeding rupees five hundred crore that are implemented by a public agency. The Government may apply it by general or special order to a public-private partnership project below that value. A notification issued through G.O. (Ms.) No. 391, Finance (BPE) Department, dated 7 November 2012, applies the Act to all public-private partnership projects exceeding rupees ten crore.

Projects undertaken by the Central Government or a Central Government public sector undertaking are excluded, including projects undertaken jointly with the State Government.

Public-private partnership framework

The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Act, 2012 defines a public-private partnership as an arrangement in which a private participant invests in, designs, develops, constructs, maintains or operates infrastructure. Risks must be shared so that the private participant carries risk beyond design and construction, and payment must be linked to performance.

Key provisions include:

• Feasibility studies covering technical, social, economic and financial viability, demand, technology, cost, implementation time, and social and environmental impact.
• Detailed project studies covering capital cost, technology, specifications, schedules, financing and implementation.
• Concession agreements between public agencies and private participants.
• State support that may include grants, Government guarantees, escrow accounts, rights to develop land, and permitted tax or fee incentives.
• User levies, including charges, fees or other amounts payable by infrastructure users.

Administration and property relevance

The Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Act, 2012 establishes the Tamil Nadu Infrastructure Development Board, headquartered in Chennai. Its members include the Chief Minister as Chairperson, the Minister in charge of Finance as Vice-Chairperson, the Chief Secretary, the Secretary to Government in the Finance Department, and the Board's Chief Executive Officer.

For property buyers and owners, the supplied provisions are relevant where land forms part of an infrastructure or public-private partnership project. State support may include conferring a right to develop land. The supplied text does not establish a property sale, title transfer or registration procedure, so the precise effect on any parcel would depend on the relevant project arrangements and concession agreement.