Govt's Gatishakti scheme to provide framework for NIP programme: Gadkari

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, during the 29th Annual General Meeting of the American Chambers of Commerce in India on Thursday, said the government is investing $1.4 trillion in infrastructure development through the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP).

He added that in order to catalyse a long-term investment into infrastructure, the government will soon form a new development finance institution DFR, which will be set up on a capital base of Rs 20,000 crore. It will have a lending target of Rs 5 lakh crore in three years, he said.

The government will also launch the national master plan of Prime Minister Gatishakti Scheme of over Rs 100 lakh crore, he added. As per Gadkari, the Gatishakti master plan will provide the framework for the NIP programme, and will make Indian products more competitive by cutting down the logistic costs improving the supply chains.

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He said infrastructure development will play an important role in fulfilling India's vision to become a $5 trillion economy in the next 5 years. Gadkari added that the bilateral trade between India and the US has grown from $16 billion to $149 billion in the last two decades. He said it could reach over $500 billion by 2025.

Speaking on the theme 'infrastructure propelling India in the global supply chain', he said it's important to have a well-developed infrastructure to enhance economic activity and provide additional fiscal space by improving the revenue base of the government.

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The minister said the scope of technology transfer, innovation and research and development between India and the US must be further explored. He noted that India has about 6 million km of road network, which is the 2nd largest road network in the world. The road infrastructure plays an important role in the Indian economy as 70% of the goods and nearly 90% of the passenger traffic uses the road network to commute.

Gadkari said India is becoming the largest EV market for electronic two-wheelers, three-wheelers and cars. He stated the US-based companies "can collaborate with our R&D towards EV battery technologies and retrofitting industry".

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