The NDA government at the Centre on Wednesday approved seven road and port projects worth Rs 9,672 crore.
“The Public Private Project Appraisal Committee (PPPAC) and the Empowered Committee, chaired by Economic Affairs Secretary, cleared six road projects and one project in the port sector at an estimated cost totalling Rs 9,672.12 crore,” read a statement issued by the Finance Ministry statement. The PPPAC meeting was held on Tuesday.
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das tweeted: “Quick clearances given”. The road projects include four National Highways – one each in Maharashtra and Himachal Pradesh and two in Uttar Pradesh and one port sector project in Goa.
Besides, the two road projects in UP have been cleared for Viability Gap Funding (VGF). Under VGF, government support is provided to infrastructure projects to make them viable and bankable.
Recently, Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari had termed infrastructure building as a “major challenge as the country requires $1 trillion (Rs 67,00,000 crore approximately) for the development of new roads, ports and airports over the next few years.
Gadkari had reiterated the NDA government's committment to transform India’s infrastructure, adding that there is no dearth of funds for the purpose. “Money is not a problem, mentality is. Unfortunately, we have a demoralised bureaucracy,” the minister had said.
Confident of removing bureaucratic hurdles in the way of road projects, Gadkari had said that companies in the sector are victims of the government's indecisiveness and the need for multiple approvals. He said the government had several rounds of talks with bankers and contractors to clarify issues relating to land acquisition and project approval. “In the next five years, we are going to change the infrastructure of this country. I know my work, I am doing it. Building of infrastructure will add two per cent to the India’s GDP," he hads said.
Concerned over the rising cases of road accidents, Gadkari said that the Centre has planned to reduce road mishaps by 50 per cent in the next five years and has earmarked Rs 11,000 crore for fixing the problems at 726 black spots.
He added that the construction of highways in the country has gone up to 18 km per day and the target is to increase it to 30 km per day by the end of March. The minister added that he aimed to construct 100 km highways per day in the country.