New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has called for investors from the US to come forward and invest in roads and highways projects in India which is a gold-mine for investors. Inaugurating virtually the 19th Indo-US Economic Summit of The Indo-American Chamber of Commerce recently, he said the United States of America and India are prominent democracies of the world with strong bilateral relations.
He said: “We are natural partners and have a lot to contribute for mutual growth. Both the countries have always shown mutual trust, respect and co-operation on the social, economic and strategic front.” Gadkari said that our emphasis has been on creating a sustainable business ecosystem with an inclusive growth model.
He said we need to encourage out-of-the-box thought processes and promote creative agenda to weave new pathways. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set a vision for India to become a five trillion-dollar economy by 2025. The Minister emphasized that today, India is one of the fastest growing economies and stands at fifth position in the world. A well-developed infrastructure enhances economic activity, creates new businesses and promotes job creation.
He said that our government is investing 1.4 trillion dollars in infrastructure development through the National Infrastructure Pipeline. The road sector will account for 19 per cent of this capital expenditure over the period of 2019 to 2025. He said the government has launched the Prime Minister National Gati Shakti Master Plan for holistic and integrated infrastructure development in the country.
Gadkari said Road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the Indian economy as 70 per cent of goods and nearly 90 per cent of passenger traffic uses the road network to commute. In 2014, we had around 91,000 kms of national highway network. At present, this network has reached around 1.47 lakh km. The government is dedicatedly working towards expanding the national highway network to two lakh kilometers by 2025, he added.
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