Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that the government is erecting a number of greenfield expressway projects adding upto 10,000 km across India at a budget of Rs 4.5 lakh crore, PTI report said.
The minister mentioned that all the road network has been constructed under the Bharatmala Pariyojana. More than Rs 70, 000 crore has been created through several means of financing by the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)and the funds generated through this will be used in building highway projects, he stated.
While making a speech at an event arranged by IIM Kozhikode on ‘Management Development Program on Infrastructure Financing’, the minister said, ”The government has conceived Bharatmala Pariyojna of developing of 65,00 km highways covering all over the country. We are building 10,000 km of greenfield expressway which will amount to Rs 4.5 lakh crore and phase one road network consists of 34, 800 km,” as reported by PTI.
NHAI’s several measures to modernise National Highways
The road, transport and highways minister mentioned there is a whopping shoot up to near about 1.45 lakh km at present comparable to 91,000 km in India’s total National Highway network. The minister said NHAI is adopting several methods of monetization of national highways assets such as project based financing ,ToT (toll-operate-transfer)and InVIT (Infrastructure Investment Trusts). Asset monetization plays a pivotal role in generating investment for infrastructure.
NHAI is utilizing many innovative financing techniques and has created more than Rs 70,000 crore. Around Rs 34,000 crore has been generated through securitization via SPVs, Rs 26,000 crore is raised through ToT model and Rs 10,000 crore by NHAI InVIT (National Highways Infra Trust).
With the conception of PM Gati Shakti National master plan and national infrastructure pipeline, the government has given an immense boost to the economy, the Union Minister added. The new infra projects which will come under these plans will help in connecting the remotest of India and will corroborate in integrated and overall development across the country by reducing time and cost.