BS Infra Summit: From power to ports, making of Indian infrastructure

India's infrastructure story shines at BS Summit 2025, with leaders charting bold visions in roads, ports, energy, and aviation to power Viksit Bharat 2047

Sample these figures:  10 km/day > Average pace of highway construction 

90% > Railway network still running on diesel locomotives 

40% > Aggregate technical & commercial losses in power sector 

3% > Share of the population travelling by air

  These numbers capture the state of India’s infrastructure in the 1990s. Hard to believe, but true. If quality infrastructure is the backbone of rapid economic growth, it is little surprise that the pre-2000 Indian economy was marked by stifling state monopolies and unsustainable leakages across sectors. 

Now, cut to 2025 

The data tell a story of dramatic change:

 

29 km/day > Average pace of national highway construction

 

98% > Share of the broad-gauge railway network now electrified

 

15% > Aggregate technical & commercial losses in power sector; as low as 7-8% in privatised 

distribution areas

 

376 mn > Passengers handled by Indian airports in 2024–25, domestic and international combined 

Together, these figures reflect the scale of India’s infrastructure turnaround. 

This success story, and the road ahead, formed the core theme of the Business Standard Infrastructure Summit 2025, shaping both the agenda and the daylong deliberations. The summit brought together top leaders of India’s infrastructure sector to reflect on the country’s growth journey and to debate the challenges of building mega projects that are not only sustainable but also capable of meeting the expectations of a rapidly developing economy. 

The summit was addressed by two high-profile Union ministers heading key infrastructure portfolios — Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, and Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. It also featured six focused sessions on subjects ranging from infrastructure funding and aviation to ports and shipping, as well as debates on the future of fossil fuels and the hurdles faced by renewable energy players. 

In his special address, Gadkari outlined the country’s broader strategy to scale up the infrastructure sector over the next few years, while highlighting the challenges of executing mega projects aligned with the Viksit Bharat 2047 vision. He stressed that without quality infrastructure, India cannot achieve the levels of investment and job creation needed to become a $5 trillion economy. 

 

 

“Today, my problem is not the availability of money — I can sanction projects worth about ₹20 trillion. My problem is capital expenditure,” said Gadkari, whose ministry has been credited with the rapid expansion of roads and highways over the past decade. He added that infrastructure development in critical areas like water, transport, power, and communications remains a top government priority, with efforts underway to bring logistics costs for businesses down to 9 per cent. 

Sonowal outlined his ministry’s vision to modernise maritime infrastructure through a multipronged strategy addressing policy, governance, legislation, and funding. He said investments in the sector were being scaled up to about ₹80 trillion under the Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047. 

The minister said the ambitious Vadhavan port project would draw investments of about ₹76,000 crore, with its first phase scheduled for commissioning by 2029. “We have enacted five landmark laws that will forever alter the maritime landscape of the nation, creating a strong, business- and environment-friendly, globally aligned, and competitive framework,” he added. He further noted that 840 projects worth nearly ₹5.8 trillion were planned for implementation under the Sagarmala Programme of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways by 2035. 

Industry leaders at the summit echoed the success story of India’s infrastructure sector but also pressed for faster resolution of bottlenecks. Tata Power Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director (MD) Praveer Sinha said India needed a council for land, power, and water clearances — similar to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council — to fast-track infrastructure projects and enable double-digit economic growth. Highlighting the massive funding need, he noted that the power sector alone would require investments of about ₹3 trillion in in the next five years. 

Other industry leaders at the summit stressed the daunting challenge of building next-generation infrastructure in the years ahead. In a session on renewable energy, panellists noted that while India’s rapid growth in energy capacity over the past decade was commendable, projects continued to face serious hurdles. These include high capital costs, delays in creating matching transmission capacity, the steep price of energy-storage technologies, and the reluctance of power distribution companies to sign power-purchase agreements (PPAs) — all of which deter fresh investment. 

“As we add more renewable capacity, we need matching investments in transmission and storage. Without affordable storage solutions, the push to expand supply will stall. The high weighted average cost of capital is another roadblock,” said Gauri Singh, deputy director general of the International Renewable Energy Agency. India’s solar capacity has risen from just 2 Gw in 2014 to 120 Gw today, with a target of 280 Gw in the next five years. The broader renewable-energy goal is 500 Gw by 2030 — a target experts say is ambitious but achievable, given strong private-sector interest. 

Beyond power and renewables, aviation has been another major beneficiary of private capital over the past two decades. At a session on “Building a Global Airport Hub in India”, panellists included Delhi International Airport (DIAL) CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar and Noida International Airport CEO Christoph Schnellmann. Both stressed that for India to develop true global hubs, it must plug passenger leakages to rival airports, expand direct long-haul connectivity, and ensure faster, smoother passenger experiences. They also underlined that India’s natural advantage — a vast domestic market — can be realised only if industry stakeholders work together instead of in silos. 

The summit featured a session on “Infra for Viksit Bharat: Planning, Funding & Building”, with panellists including Kuljit Singh, partner and infrastructure leader at EY; Rahul Mithal, chairman and managing director of Rites; and Jagan Shah, CEO of The Infravision Foundation. They likened infrastructure development to a tightrope walk, requiring a balance between speedy execution and quality delivery. 

Key takeaways included the need for more agile procurement models and the quality-and-cost-based selection approach 

for awarding detailed project report contracts.