Consultants head out to West Asia, Africa as business slows in India

Indian private sector consultants promoting PPP are fanning out to Africa, West Asia and elsewhere. “PPP is a new animal for countries in West Asia. Most projects were till now fully government-funded, but with the crunch in resources, PPP is catching up fast. Many of these countries are hiring Indian consultants for both PPP and full privatization projects. Besides infrastructure, other sectors in focus include education, health care and transport. ‘It works, as they have never explored PPP as an option of infrastructure development,’ says Abhijit Bhaumik, a senior consultant with 26 years of experience who worked with firms like Feedback and others before going it alone. Bhaumik says that he spends most of his time in Tanzania and is soon starting a new project in China. In the last four to five years, he’s worked in Bangladesh, Kenya, Indonesia and Vietnam.”