New Delhi: To propel economic growth, the government has set an ambitious target of awarding highway projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore in next six months besides creation of 25 lakh jobs in the shipping, road, transport and highways sector, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.
Not only has the government awarded contracts for building 8,000 km of highways worth Rs 1 lakh crore but PPP has been revived, Gadkari said listing achievements of highways and shipping sectors during the year and said he was confident these would contribute over 2% to the GDP.
"Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in bolstering the economy. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has requested us to jack up target and hence we have set a target to award Rs 3.5 lakh crore highway projects in next six months. It is a difficult work but we will try to accomplish it," Gadkari said addressing a press conference in New Delhi.
"The highway sector was facing a crisis of confidence and all the stakeholders were in complete disarray when we took over...But now investors confidence has revived...PPP is picking up, private sector is evincing interest and there is a major turnaround," he added.
The minister further said that 1,231 projects for 37,000 km are on the anvil while road building target has paced up.
"I set for myself a target of highway construction of 30 km per day within two years. We have already taken a leap of 400% - from 3 km per day during last leg of UPA regime to 13 km per day now," he said.
The minister informed that things are also looking up on PPP (public-private-partnership) as a large number of bidders have come for Solapur-Bijapur, Shivpuri-Devas, Raipur-Bilaspur, Hospet Chitradurg and Delhi-Mukarma highways, while Larsen & Toubro has bid below 20 per of the estimated cost for Reva to Jabalpur road.
"Given the huge projects in road, transport, highways and shipping sectors, I am confident that in two years time we will be able to create 25 lakh new jobs," he said, adding that the concerned Ministries have entered into a pact with the Ministry of Skill Development for it.
Besides, the ministry is planning to provide better connectivity to places of religious importance whether it is Shriram Circuit, Buddha Circuit or Ajmer Sharif, he said and added Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off during Dussehra Rs 1,100 km Chardham project worth 11,000 crore to connect the Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.
"We will also build 5,000-km of road network all along the borders and coastal areas under 'Bharat Mala' at a cost of Rs 55,000 crore," he said.
On funding of projects, he said the government is keen on selling 5,000 km road projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore, which it completed on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.
"We are trying to attract foreign funds, insurance funds and pension funds and to build up investors' confidence we will hold a conference of top bankers and investors in which Prime Minister and Finance Minister will also be present," he said.
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