Centre looking to create common utility corridors

Union Minister of State for Road Transport & Highways and Civil Aviation, General(Dr) V K Singh (Retd) has said to ensure that India achieves the target of USD 5 trillion economy the country needs to invest 5 times more in infrastructure development.

Addressing the Gati Shakti: Transforming India’s Infrastructure based Development marching towards USD 5 Trillion Economy, organised by PHDCCI he said Government is looking into creating common utility corridors to ensure speedy transportation, lower fuel costs & cost effectiveness.

Dr Singh emphasised on the importance of PM GatiShakti which has been brought in to cater the challenges which have been causing hindrance to the speedy development in the infrastructure sector, all under one roof.

The Minister said implementation and time bound manner completion of the projects are the core areas of PM Gatishakti master plan. He said main purpose of the plan is to create a framework for boosting infrastructure development combined with resolutions. In this framework various programs get attention from all the concerned departments at one go without any hurdles, he added.

New model for small investors: In an another meeting, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that a new model will be formulated for small investors to invest in infrastructure. Inaugurating the 3rd Edition of Roads and Highways Summit of FICCI he said opportunities will be there for common people to get assured returns on their investments. The Minister said country has the second highest road network in the world and this is the time to expand road network and take it to two lakh kilometres by the end of 2024.

Gadkari spoke about the challenge of reducing the logistics cost from 16 per cent to 10 per cent. He said integrated approach is needed to achieve a reduction in logistics cost. The Minister said the use of petrol and diesel should be reduced and alternative fuels like LNG and ethanol, methanol, hydrogen should be encouraged as they are cost-effective and sustainable.

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