India will be on faster growth path fuelled by infra.
According to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Friday,the pandemic has caused a slowdown in India but the country's inherent resilience and capability will help it transform into a new India with a faster growth path fuelled by infrastructure.Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body ASSOCHAM, Gadkari further said to achieve the GDP of USD 5 trillion by 2024-25, India needs to spend about USD 1.4 trillion over these years on infrastructure.
Gadkari added, COVID-19 pandemic has caused a slowdown in India. But its inherent resilience and capability will help it transform into a new India with an accelerated growth path fuelled by infrastructure.
Gadkari criticised steel and cement companies for indulging in cartelisation and exploiting people and announced that his ministry is setting up a committee under the chairmanship of K Venkataramana to reduce the dependency on steel and cement to reduce the cost of construction and look for alternatives.
Gadkari stated that all steel - whether produced from ore, billets, pellets, or melting of scrap - would be allowed to be used for National Highway construction, as long as it meets the standards required for specific grades of steel.
The steel proposed to be used would be tested in NABL-accredited laboratories as a third-party check before approval, he said.
Gadkari said his ministry has managed to achieve three world records recently.
"Firstly, we have managed to achieve a record by constructing 37 km of road per day during 2020-21. Secondly, the construction of a 2.5 km four-lane concrete road was achieved in a matter of 24 hours.
"Our ministry also achieved a record by constructing a 26 km one-lane road in 24 hours flat. This is due to the efforts put by our engineers, contractors and workers," he said.
"The award figure is 10,965 km during this period as compared to 8,948 km in the previous year. This kind of performance was never done earlier," he noted.
Gadkari also noted that banks are not supporting competent and small contractors.
The minister also pointed out that contractors of National Highways are not planting trees by managing government officials. Gadkari also said his ministry is hiring experts as members of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for speedy implementation of projects.
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02-2026
