Nitin Gadkari has ambitious plans for India's roads, says they will be on par with US by 2024

The central government is aiming to develop India’s road infrastructure on par with that of the US by the end of 2024, Nitin Gadkari Minister of Road Transport and Highways of India said on Monday.

He was speaking at Business Today Budget roundtable 2023, in conversation with Siddharth Zarabi, Managing Editor, Business Today TV.

The minister noted that India already has the second largest highway road network in the world after the US and his government’s mandate is to improve the road infrastructure of the country. He indicated there is a special emphasis on Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Kashmir.

The minister said there are also robust future plans for Bharat Mala project and green express highways.

“The Bharat Mala 1.0 is already in the process and the approval of Bharat Mala 2.0 is pending with the cabinet. The aim is to make green highways. There is one road existing in this form from Delhi to Dehradun. We are making a highway from Akshardham through which it will be possible reach Delhi to Dehradun and Haridwar in 2 hours, Delhi to Amritsar in 2.5 hours, Delhi to Srinagar in 8 hours, Delhi to Katra in 6 hours, Delhi to Jaipur 2 hours and Chennai to Bangalore in 2 hours etc. This kind of work in underway ranging from land acquisition to road development," said Gadkari.

The minister said that his government is turning making roads into a profitable business.

“The total assets are worth Rs 80 Lakh crore, the toll income is Rs 40,000 crore a year, and it will continue to grow.  Due to Fast Tag, toll income has increased by Rs. 7,000 crores. As the work in progress, now the vehicle number plates will also be linked to satellite tolls,” said Gadkari.

When asked about finances for the road infrastructure, the minister said that there is no shortage of funds with the government.  

Gadkari spoke about the National Highways Infra Trust (NHAI InvIT), which is the infrastructure investment trust sponsored by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) to support Government of India's National Monetization Pipeline.

According to the central government, as on October 13, 2022 the trust has raised a sum of Rs 1,430 crore from domestic and international investors through placement of its units, for part funding its acquisition of three additional road projects from NHAI.

In addition to the above, NHAI InvIT has also filed prospectus with SEBI for issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs) to raise Rs 1,500 crore. The NCDs would carry a coupon of 7.90 per cent payable semi-annually and would be available for subscription by both retail and institutional investors.

“NHAI INVIT bond subscription will be opened every 15 days with monthly interests of up to 8.50 per cent and more,” said Gadkari.

When asked about the exemption of VIPs for paying tolls on highways, Gadkari said that there is no answer to this question, considering the limitation of the popular politics.

The minister also expressed concern over the rising road accidents in India. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways released the annual report ‘Road accidents in India — 2021’ in December 2022.

As per the report, there were 4,12,432 incidences of road accidents during 2021 which claimed 1, 53,972 lives and caused injuries to 3, 84,448 persons.

“ More than Covid and any other disease, people in India are dying due to road accidents. These deaths cause a loss of 3.2 per cent GDP every year. The government is trying to create awareness about road safety. We are improving the road engineering but human behaviour also needs to be improved,” said Gadkari.

“We are trying to raise awareness on road safety in educational level and strengthening road traffic laws at the same time,” he said.
 
Gadkari also said that the government is working with the cement industry to make concrete roads and will negotiate cement pricing with the industry.  
 

Also read: BT Budget Roundtable 2023: Can now cover distance between Delhi-Dehradun in 2 hours, says Nitin Gadkari

Also read: NHAI InvIT bonds to open every 15 days; will give 8.5% returns: Nitin Gadkari