Virtually inaugurating the 19th Indo-US Economic Summit of The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce, Gadkari said the US and India are prominent democracies of the world with strong bilateral relations.
According to the ministry, Gadkari said India and the US are natural partners and have a lot to contribute for mutual growth. Both the countries have always shown mutual trust, respect and co-operation on the social, economic and strategic front. The theme for this year ‘The New Agenda for next 25 years’ will set the roadmap for strengthening this relationship, he added.
Gadkari said there has been an emphasis on creating a sustainable business ecosystem with an inclusive growth model, and that there was a need to encourage out-of-the-box thought process and promote creative agenda to weave new pathways.
“The Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a vision for India to become a $5 trillion economy by 2025. He emphasized that today, India is one of the fastest growing economies and stands at fifth position in the world. A well-developed infrastructure enhances economic activity, creates new businesses and promotes job creation," the MoRTH statement said.
Gadkari said the Union government has drawn up plans to invest $1.4 trillion in infrastructure development through National Infrastructure Pipeline. The road sector will account for 19% of this capital expenditure over 2019 -25.
The minister also said that road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the Indian economy as 70% of goods and nearly 90% of passenger traffic uses the road network to commute. In 2014, there were around 91,000 km of national highway network. At present, this is around 1.47 lakh km.
“The government is dedicatedly working towards expanding national highway network to 2 lakh kilometers by 2025,’ he added.
The minister said India was constructing 27 greenfield expressways of 10,000 km across the country with an investment of ₹5 trillion, or about $60 billion. He said these corridors would result in 14% reduction in travel distance between key economic centres and ensure reduction in transportation cost by 2.5%.
In addition, there would be saving of around 110 crore litre of fuel and reduction of carbon dioxide emission by 250 crore kg every year, he said.
The minister said we are bringing innovative and investor friendly products like InvIT to allow retail investors participate in the funding drive.
“We have well-developed framework for Public-Private-Partnerships (PPP) in the highway sector. Asian Development Bank has ranked India at the first spot in PPP operational maturity and also designated India as a developed market for PPPs. All project documentation, contractual decisions and approvals are now being done through the digital portal," he added.
