India to ink pact with UK, China to build highways

India would enter into a pact with China in the area of highways development and, once the agreement was reached, Chinese investment would treble in the road sector, the government today said.

Also, a pact with the UK would be signed next week for greater cooperation in the areas of highway development, consultancy and road safety, among others, it said.

“MoU with China is in a draft stage. Once the draft is finalised and agreement is reached, Chinese investment in the highways sector will treble,” Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath told reporters on the sidelines of the 49th annual session of the Cement Manufacturers’ Association.

China was interested to invest in the highways sector and was willing to provide technology, project management, design and engineering, he said.

China was already present in the road sector, he said, adding nine Chinese companies were building six highway schemes in the country and “it is going to commit more”.

Chinese companies are constructing six projects at a cost of about '2478.32 crore, including four on the Hyderabad-Bangalore stretch and one project each on build, operate and transfer (BoT) basis in Kerala and Gujarat.

Nath had met Chinese Transport Minister Li Shenglin in Beijing last week during his visit to the country and said a quantum jump in road building targets in India provided huge opportunities to the Chinese construction companies, as also the financial institutions, to enhance their engagement with India.

He had said the preferred mode of highway development in India was Public Private Partnership (PPP) and 60 per cent of the national highways would be developed under the BoT toll mode.

Earlier, addressing the Cement Manufacturers Association, he said China had built a huge infrastructure for the future, while India was in the process of building these to bridge the past deficit.

At present, around 35,000 km of national highways is under construction in China. Of these, 10,000 km is likely to be completed this year.

India has also embarked on an ambitious road-building programme, with a target of constructing 20 km of highways a day.

About the proposed pact with the UK next week, Nath said: “MoU with the United Kingdom will be signed next week and we are looking at investments from the UK, besides cooperation in the areas of consultancy and technology.”

The MoU would enable greater government to government cooperation, helping India gain from the best practices and experiences of UK in the field, he added.