Government looking to award projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh cr in next six months: Gadkari

Creation of 25 lakh jobs in the shipping, road, transport and highways sector is also planned, he said

The government has set an ambitious target of awarding highway projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore in the  next six months, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Thursday.

“Infrastructure plays a pivotal role in bolstering the economy and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has requested us to increase our targets to award Rs 3.5 lakh crore highway projects in the next six months. Given the huge projects in the road, transport, highways and shipping sectors, I am confident that in two years time we will be able to create 25 lakh new jobs. The concerned ministries have entered into a pact with the ministry of skill development for this,” Gadkari said, addressing a press conference in New Delhi.

The minister said 1,231 projects for 37,000 km are on the cards. He added things were also looking up on PPP (public-private-partnership), as a large number of bidders have come for the Solapur-Bijapur, Shivpuri-Devas, Raipur-Bilaspur, Hospet-Chitradurga and Delhi-Mukarma highways, while Larsen & Toubro has bid below 20 per cent of the estimated cost for the Reva to Jabalpur road.

“The highway sector was facing a crisis of confidence and all stakeholders were mired in doubt when we took over but investor confidence has revived. Public-private partnership is picking up; the private sector is evincing interest and there is a major turnaround,” he added.

The ministry is planning to provide better connectivity to places of religious importance such as the Shriram Circuit, Buddha Circuit or Ajmer Sharif, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off during Dussehra a Rs 1,100-km Chardham project worth 11,000 crore to connect  Yamunotri, Gangotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath.

“We will also build 5,000-km of roads all along the borders and coastal areas under  the ‘Bharat Mala’ project at a cost of Rs 55,000 crore,” he said.

On funding, he said the government was keen on selling 5,000 km road projects worth about Rs 1 lakh crore, which it completed on engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

“We are trying to attract foreign funds, insurance funds and pension funds and to build up investors’ confidence we will hold a conference of top bankers and investors in which the prime minister and finance minister will also be present,” he said.