Roads to boost GDP

Nagpur: The man Prime Minister Narendra Modi has tasked with launching a China-style infrastructure boom calls himself a “bulldozer” and promises to add two percentage points to India’s economic growth in two years.

The government is committed to adding about 50,000 km of National Highways by the year end to take their length to 1.5 lakh km to “transform the face of India’s infrastructure”, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said, while addressing the SIAM annual convention.

Besides, 10,000 km of highways would be widened to four lanes from two lanes in two years, he said. The minister pointed out that the road building pace has been brought to 14 km a day, from a mere 2 km.

Also, he said that the work on the government’s ambitious Rs 4,000-crore ‘Metrino’ public transport project, which will enable people to travel in driverless pods suspended to a ropeway in the national capital region (NCR), will start in a month.

“The DPR for the Metrino project that will connect the 70-km stretch from Dhaula Kuan to Manesar in Haryana has been given. The scientific study has been done. The work on it is likely to start in a month," Mr Gadkari added. The cost of Metrino comes to barely Rs 50 crore a km compared with Rs 350 crore a km for the metro, he said, hoping that the project will ease traffic situation in Delhi.

Additionally, as an eco-friendly measure, ISRO in collaboration with the road ministry is developing cost-effective lithium-ion batteries that will power electric buses in Delhi. The government has plans to run at least 15 electric buses driven by economically viable battery technology within six months. He also said nine projects were awarded on a PPP model this year as against only three last year. “Of the stuck projects worth Rs 3.8 lakh crore, a majority have been rolled out and problems related to projects worth about Rs 60,000 crore are being addressed,” he said.