Hey, a road monster ahead .... watch out :)

Ok, it is not a monster.
It is oxygen pipes at a tunnel construction project in India--this NY Times piece talks about how India is raising money to finance development projects like this one:

In the last 10 months, India has raised $3.5 billion selling off pieces of state-run companies, more than such sales brought in during the previous four years. Overburdened with debt, New Delhi desperately needs the cash, in part to finance development projects like roads, schools and hospitals that may help sustain the country’s impressive growth.

The NY Times adds this:

So far, policy makers are just scratching the surface. The government owns 473 companies worth about $500 billion, or 45 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.
Economists say New Delhi could raise several billion dollars simply by reducing its stake to 90 percent in listed companies. And the government has said it plans to list an additional 60 profitable state-owned operations on the country’s stock exchanges.
“It’s a no-brainer,” said Prithvi Haldea, chairman of Prime Database, a research firm based in New Delhi. “It’s a simplistic way of raising capital for the government.”
But Mr. Haldea, like many analysts, is skeptical that New Delhi will go far enough or move fast enough.
Economists’ arguments have taken on added weight because India’s efforts to bolster growth and reduce endemic poverty are running up against daunting fiscal realities. With government debt already at 80 percent of G.D.P., policy makers cannot easily borrow more money without significantly driving up interest rates and making it more difficult for the private sector to borrow.

I grew up at one of the better government-owned project/towns--Neyveli.  It is one of the few profitable enterprises that are state-owned.
BTW, notice that the Indian government debt is at 80 percent of the GDP?  Guess what the US government's debt is as a percentage of the GDP?  You think it is higher or lower?
Ready for the answer?

federal marketable debt held by the public, which we estimate will be 60.7% of GDP at the end of F2010, will jump to 87% of GDP in the next decade - a level not seen since the post-WW II period (1947).