New Delhi, Nov. 3: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee today said the government was working on setting up a coal regulator.

The government is also considering other sectoral regulators in infrastructure.

“Serious deliberations are under way for establishing a coal regulator and there are similar plans for other infrastructure sectors as well,” Mukherjee said.

He was addressing a conclave on investment in infrastructure, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

However, power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said it was not enough to set up sectoral regulators alone.

“Infrastructure development cannot be seen sector-wise in isolation. They are all interlinked. For example, ports are important for importing coal for power stations.

“Coal is important for feeding the power stations. Therefore, successful infrastructure development also needs a holistic view at the highest level of the government,” he said.

The government is likely to bring in regulators for coal and steel as they are important in building up the infrastructure backbone.

Both the power and finance ministers are of the view that the regulatory framework for infrastructure should help in attracting private investors and encouraging projects that require assured availability of debt for a longer term.

This, in turn, will help in avoiding loading of user charges and ensure that only rational user charges are imposed for the use of infrastructure facilities.

“Private investors look for an assurance of fair play and a rational allocation of risks and rewards. Infrastructure projects require assured availability of debt on a longer tenure,” Mukherjee said.

He said the role of an infrastructure regulator had evolved from one who sets tariffs to an independent institution, which would form rational policies in consultation with the government.