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Davos 2017: Nitin Gadkari Sticks To His Target Of Building 40 Km Of Roads Per Day

The ministry expects to award 15,000 km worth of road projects by the end of March 2017.

Workers level a newly constructed stretch of road in New Delhi, India (Photographer: Amit Bhargava/Bloomberg News)  
Workers level a newly constructed stretch of road in New Delhi, India (Photographer: Amit Bhargava/Bloomberg News)  

The ministry of road transport and highways will stick to its ambitious target of laying 40 kilometres of roads every day, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari told BloombergQuint’s Menaka Doshi on the sidelines of the 47th World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland.

Gadkari admitted that the ministry is running behind its target, which is more than double the current pace of construction. And while 40 km/day will be tough to achieve by the end of this financial year, the minister expects to accelerate the pace to at least 30 km/day.

At the time when I took charge, the construction was 2 km/day. Last year, it was 18 km/day. Before March, we will definitely be building 30 km/day. My target was 40 km/day. But by next year, we will be in the position to build 40 km/day.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Roads, Transport and Highways

His ministry plans to award projects to build 15,000 km by the end of March 2017. Gadkari says the non-rainy season will also help ramp up the pace of construction to continue at a faster pace.

For the first time, we are going to award 15,000 km this year...Currently we are giving contracts. Execution of old projects between January and May, before the rains set in, the progress of construction work is high. That’s why I’m committing to you that we will maintain 30 km/day target. But regarding work contracts also, number is increasing and by end of March, we will sign contracts more than 15,000 km for this year.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Roads, Transport and Highways

Gadkari expects India’s infrastructure spend to stand at $900 billion over the next five years.

Things are moving fast. I am confident that for infrastructure development in our country, over the next 5 years, we will spend more than $900 billion. In my own department, my estimate is that it would be $300 billion.
Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Roads, Transport, and Highways

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley understands the importance of the infrastructure sector, Gadkari said, which makes him confident that the upcoming Union Budget will give the sector the necessary boost.

We will give some new innovative projects to the finance ministry. We want to make a railway station, state transport, and airport in one place where it can be integrated into multi-modal hub. Then we are giving priority to ethanol, bio-fuels. We plan to convert state government buses into electric buses. There is also planning for water ports. We want to give first priority for water ports, second priority to railways and third to ports. The way in which we have taken decisions and getting responses, I’m positive that in due course of time we’ll be in a position to boost the Indian economy. My particular target for my ministry is that in 2 years we will add 2-3 percent to the country’s GDP. 
Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for Roads, Transport, and Highways