Budget 2019: Road Ministry Seeks Another Rs 37,000 Crore
In a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Sitharaman, the highways ministry sought additional funding to meet it requirements.
In a pre-budget meeting with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the highways ministry sought additional funding to meet it requirements.
“The ministry has asked for an additional Rs 37,000 crore in the budget 2019-20,” NN Sinha, chairman at the National Highways Authority of India, told BloombergQuint after the meeting on Thursday.
In the interim budget, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had sought Rs 83,015.97 crore. That takes the total budgetary support at Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
The ministry has an ambitious Bharatmala project for the highways sector to bridge infrastructure gaps. It will build economic corridors, greenfield expressways, and roads for border, international, coastal and port connectivity.
The first phase of the programme is expected to be completed by 2022.
The NHAI’s construction target for the ongoing financial year is 4,500 kilometers, Sinha said, adding it proposes to award 6,000 km highway projects during the period.
Other suggestions made by the road ministry and the NHAI include re-introduction of tax-free bonds and change in features for 54EC bonds.
“We have requested to raise the cap of bonds from Rs 50 lakh to Rs 5 crore and reduce the lock-in period from 5 years to 3 years,” said Sinha.
Sitharaman will present her first budget as finance minister on July 5.