THE ESSENCE OF INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING AND THE INNOVATIVE MODES OF FINANCING INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY (Pages 01-29) by Dr. Sanjay Kavishwar* and Ms. Ragini Singh** in THE INTERNATIONAL MANAGER / ISSN: 2348-9413 (Online); 2348-9405 (Print)

Development of infrastructure is of immense importance for economic development of any nation. For instance, development of agriculture depends, to a considerable extent on the adequate expansion and development of irrigation facilities. Industrial progress depends on the development of power and electricity generation, transport, and communication facilities. Obviously, if proper attention is not paid to the development of infrastructure, it is likely to act as a severe constraint on the economic development process in the country. In fact, infrastructure is a facilitative set up essential for economic progress. Infrastructure is an umbrella term for several activities. These include public works like rail, power, water supply, airport etc. Although diverse in their services, these activities share among themselves similar technical features like economies of scale, and economic features like spillovers from users to non-users. Infrastructure is defined as the capital of a society that is embodied in such forms as it directly helps facilitating economic activities. The larger the infrastructure of any nation the bigger will be the opportunities for the producers to produce more and invest more. An efficient set of infrastructure solves various social problems like poverty, unemployment, regional imbalance, inequality in income and wealth etc. Hence, it becomes important to identify alternative sources of financing, apart from the Government's technique of " Traditional Procurement Method ". PPP ( Public -Private Partnership ) gained prominence but it has its own set of limitations and complexity. Keeping in mind the role of Infrastructure in Development, this paper aims to identify and explain the various other alternatives for financing infrastructure. Keywords: Regional Imbalance, Inequality in income and wealth, Traditional Procurement Method , PPP ( Public -Private Partnership ), Public Works, Industrial progress, Agricultural growth