Mumbai: Minister for road transport, highways and shipping, Nitin Gadkari asked the construction and real estate industry to woo their NRIs friends and other such individuals and institutions to arrange for loans in dollars for their projects as an alternate for higher interest rates.
This unusual move which is a direct swipe at the tight money policy of the RBI governor Raghuram Rajan, comes as he ruled out the immediate possibility for interest rates coming down any time in the near future.
He exuded hope that reduction in interest rates would happen in next few months ant till then asked the industry to go in for dollar loans. “Loans in dollars currency for projects stuck up for want of money would work out much cheaper as their repayment should happen in the same currency until interest rates begin to subside in next few months,” he said adding that it is highly unlikely that the relevant institutions can provide cheaper loans, with the status quo of prevailing interest rates.
Mr Gadkari was addressing the 13th National Convention on a theme “India is Future Ready: Housing & Infrastructure-Key Catalysts” under aegis of NAREDCO.
Mr Gadkari also advised the steel and cement industry to diversify their operations into the highways sector to make up for the lost time as this sector presently offers huge opportunities with the government giving it highest priority.
He suggested the Delhi-Jaipur express highway project on both side of which nearly 10 big townships are proposed to come and the Delhi-Meerut highway project which is likely to progress with new construction technology through which the waste that spills around could be converted into wealth.
CEO of NITI Aayog, Amitabh Kant who spoke at the conference declared that the Aayog was coming out with new policy package for the real estate and construction sector so that the ‘housing for all’ project of the Prime Minister is accomplished and demand and economic activities are accelerated in cement, steel and other related sector as with increasing urbanisation, India would be rebuilt with more focus on its urban planning and employment generation.
