Government streamlines execution of Rs 1.50 lakh crore highway projects

NEW DELHI: The government has streamlined execution of highway projects worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore and a target of building 30 km of highways a day will be achieved in another two years, Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari today said.

Stress is also being laid on transporting goods and materials through inland waterways whose share of the total traffic today in the country is only 0.5 per cent, he said.

According to Gadkari, the aim of the government would be construction of highways which match international standards and concretisation of the national highways.

Speaking at an interaction session organised by the Sadhna Group here, he said the ministry will adopt EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) model where project execution is not possible through the PPP mode.

He assured constructing 30 km of highways per day, saying "it will happen after two years and I have never failed to meet the target."

Gadkari said projects worth Rs 1.50 lakh crore have been streamlined getting environmental and other clearances.

Modern-day technology is also being introduced to expedite highway expansion including the idea of construction of tunnels in the Delhi-Jaipur corridor where acquiring land is prohibitively expensive, he said.

The target is also to henceforth build concrete roads for which they are in talks with about 10-12 cement companies, Gadkari said.

"We will do concrete roads and give productions to 10-12 cement companies. I want a cement bag whose cost is not more than Rs 150. Our aim is to economise construction of concrete road than bitumin road," he said.

Concrete roads have a longer life span and cost of maintenance is low, he said.

He also shared his dream of running next generation electro-magnetic trains utilising the highway infrastructure, whose construction cost per km is much lesser than the cost incurred for construction of a km of metro track.