New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while addressing a post Budget webinar on ‘Infrastructure and Investment: Improving logistic efficiency with PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan,’ said that this year’s Budget will give new energy to infrastructure. He said that India’s capex has increased five times as compared to 2013-14 and the government is moving with a target of investing Rs 110 lakh crore under the National Infrastructure Pipeline.

“This is a time of new responsibilities, new possibilities and bold decisions for every stakeholder,” the Prime Minister emphasized. “Infrastructure has a significant role to play in the sustainable development of any country along with development while keeping the needs of the future in mind,” he remarked.

He underlined that those who have knowledge of history related to infrastructure are well-versed with this fact. He cited the construction of Uttarapath by Chandragupta Maurya which was carried forward by Ashoka and later upgraded by Sher Shah Suri. He informed us that it was the Britishers who turned it into G T Road.

Noting the obstacles that came in the way of investments in the infrastructural development of the country by previous governments, the Prime Minister highlighted the prevailing mentality that poverty is a virtue. He underlined that the present government has not only been successful in eliminating this mentality but also in making record investments in modern infrastructure.

He elaborated on the improvement in this situation and said that the average construction of the National Highways has nearly doubled compared to what it was before 2014. Similarly, only 600 route km of railway track was electrified per year before 2014 which is now reaching 4000 km per year. He further added that the number of airports and seaport capacity has doubled as well.

“Infrastructure development is the driving force of the country's economy”, the Prime Minister remarked as he pointed out that India will achieve the target of becoming a developed nation by 2047 by following this very path. “Now we have to improve our speed and move in top gear,” he said.

“We have identified the gaps that were impacting the logistics efficiency. That is why, in this year’s Budget, 100, critical projects have been prioritized and 75,000 crore rupees have been allocated. With quality and multimodal infrastructure, our logistic cost is going to reduce further in the days to come. This will have a positive impact on the goods made in India, on the competence of our products,” he said.

The Prime Minister asked the participants to find ways to develop a mechanism for an advanced forecast of the needs of their sectors as various materials are needed for infrastructure development. “We need an integrated approach so that the roadmap for the future remains clear. PM Gati-Shakti National Master Plan has a big role in this,” he said, emphasizing the need to integrate the concept of circular economy with the sector.

The Prime Minister emphasized that the robustness of India’s physical infrastructure is equally important for the strengthening of the country’s social infrastructure. He underlined that a strong social infrastructure will lead to more talented and skilled youth who will come forward to serve the nation.

The Prime Minister stressed the need for skill development, project management, financial skills and entrepreneurship to accomplish this goal. He also addressed the need to develop a mechanism for skill forecasting that will help small and big industries from different sectors while also benefiting the human resource pool of the country. He also urged various ministries in the governments to work at a fast pace in this direction. /BI/