Union Minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia on Tuesday said the country's infrastructure sector is growing at a significant pace in areas such as roads, highways and civil aviation.
Scindia, who is in charge of the ministries of civil aviation and steel, was speaking at the 8th National Leadership Conclave organised by the All India Management Association (AIMA) in the national capital.
The government's thrust is on development of infrastructure and related sectors in the country. The PM Gati Shakti master plan is going to change the face of India's infrastructure, he said.
"The infrastructure sector has had tremendous potential in driving the economic destiny of any country. If you look at the developed nations, their success has been driven by impetus on infrastructure. Therefore, there is the much needed impetus on infrastructure," he said.
According to him, the country has made significant progress in the areas of roads, highways, railways and civil aviation, among other areas.
When it comes to roads and highways, the minister said that the average construction of road has climbed up to 40 kilometres/a day in the last nine years from 12 kms per day earlier. During this period, he said that India also doubled the network of its highways.
Earlier, the railways which used to put in place 600 route km a year is powering ahead by putting in place 4,500 route km per year.
"We should also look at our digital network which has transformed the lives of people of the country. Broadband access in 2013-14 was limited to 61 million people. It has grown to 816 million people across our country," he noted.
Talking about the civil aviation sector, he said that in nine years, the government added 74 airports and heliports.
"It is our aim and our resolve to build more than 200 airports in our country over the next 4-5 years. It is our resolve that holistic growth is brought up so that the civil aviation sector can support a USD 20 trillion dollar economy by 2047 which is our ambition," Scindia said.