Government exploring fundraising from public for building highways, says Gadkari

This will benefit the public as they will get a fixed return (at 6 per cent), Gadkari said, adding that the interest rate will be higher than that offered by banks

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. Credit: PTI Photo

Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said that the Centre is working on a scheme to raise funds from the public at a 6 per cent annual interest rate for road infrastructure projects.

This will benefit the public as they will get a fixed return, he said, adding that the interest rate will be higher than that offered by banks.

Speaking during the Question Hour in Rajya Sabha, the minister said the total length of national highways (NHs) in the country has increased from about 91,287 kilometres in April 2014 to about 140,937 kilometres till the end of November 2021. From 2014-15 to the end of November 2021, projects for about 82,058 kilometres have been awarded, Gadkari said.

He said that the pace of road construction has increased in the past seven years and there is no shortage of funds for the implementation of the road projects.

The construction of Zoji La tunnel on the Srinagar-Leh highway will be completed before 2024, while another Z-Morh tunnel will be completed in the next three months, he said.

Further, the minister said 24 green express highways of 8,000 kilometres are being constructed, which will transform the road infrastructure in the country.

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Citing reasons for the delay in road projects prior to 2014, the minister said the pace of construction was 12.7 km per day then and many projects had stalled due to land acquisition, court cases and financial problems. The speed of road construction has increased to 38 km per day at present and is projected to increase to 45 km per day by end of the 2021-22 fiscal, which would be a world record.

After the Modi government came to power, he said the government reviewed 406 stalled road projects worth Rs 3.85 lakh crore and restarted them, which also saved banks from the non-performing asset (NPA) of about Rs 3 lakh crore.

He said there has been a 55 per cent increase in the construction of highway roads to 140,936 kilometres at present, which will further increase to 2 lakh kilometres under Gati Shakti Bharatmala project.

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