National Road Infra Conclave 2022: Today, in Financial Express Online’s first edition of the National Road Infra Conclave (NRIC), Amit Kumar Ghosh, Additional Secretary, Ministry Of Roads Transport & Highways said that Highways bring opportunities for investments in different industries, economic activities, and post 2015, there has been a major turnaround as the highway development had proceeded. There has been a steady increase in the allocation of budget. In fact, the road sector has the highest infrastructure sector and it has been increasing at a CAGR of 13% from 2015-16 to 2018-19. He also said that the government has introduced the TOT model, which has enabled them to monetize public-funded national highway projects, which become operational after construction. So far, successful monetization through this model has yielded Rs 15,000 crore.
This year, the ministry has a very ambitious target, he said. Besides, InvIT model has also become successful. The operational highway projects are being offered to InvIT. Also, private investments in India have increased from Rs 16,000 crore in 2016-17 to more than Rs 22,000 crore in 2019-20. Thus, there is an increase in investor confidence and investor interest in the road sector. The ministry is estimating it will reach Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000 crore by the financial year 2024-25 and this should further increase to more than Rs 2 lakh crore by fiscal 2028-29 to 2029-30, Ghosh said.
Meanwhile, on the initiatives taken by the government on reducing carbon footprint, he said that more and more green materials are being utilized for construction. Apart from this, he also said that the government is strongly promoting the use of soil stabilization agents. The MoRTH is also encouraging the adoption of more sustainable fuels, he stated. Moreover, the government is also shifting toward stricter pollution norms as well as the promotion of electric vehicles, he added.