New Delhi, May 20: Finance minister P. Chidambaram today said the economy is losing 1.5-2 per cent in GDP growth annually due to poor infrastructure and hinted that the government was not averse to the restructuring of Calcutta and Chennai airports through the privatisation mode.

“There is a clear infrastructure gap in the country? It has been estimated that the infrastructure gap is costing India between 1.5 to 2 per cent of GDP growth every year,” Chidambaram said while speaking at the conference of state chief secretaries here.

The finance minister said international airports in Delhi and Mumbai are being restructured and modernised through the public-private-partnership model.

“I am told that the Calcutta and Chennai airports will be developed on similar lines after consulting the respective state governments,” he said.

Besides, five other cities have been identified for development of greenfield airports, he said.

“India’s infrastructure needs cannot be funded by the government’s budgetary resources alone,” Chidambaram said. “One has to reach out to the private sector, private savings to fund such ambitious projects.” Chidambaram said India needs Rs 2,20,000 crore by 2012 to build new highways and widen existing ones.

“It has been estimated that India has a potential to absorb $150 billion of investment in the next few years in infrastructure alone,” he said.