Union minister Nitin Gadkari said his target is to achieve the pace of 100 km per day in highway construction while addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII; the road, transport and highways minister said delays and not taking decisions is a big problem in the country.
“Infrastructure (development) is very important for the country…Even during the pandemic, we made a world record of constructing 38 km of road in a day,” he said. “…(but) I am not satisfied with the present performance,” Gadkari said adding that his target is to achieve the pace of up to 100 km per day of highway construction.
Gadkari also criticized the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials for delaying projects and/or creating obstacles in work. “If any one (contractor) wants to change his bank or financial institution, it takes him 3 months to 1.5 year to take NOC from NHAI…we can make this possible in 2 hours, then why is there a delay for 1.5 years, I am asking this question to officials,” he said.
He said asset monetisation is key to meet finances for road projects and the government is confident that NHAI will be able to raise ₹1.40 lakh crore per year from existing highway projects
