Gadkari promotes InvIT for 7-8% returns
Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has told the country’s engineers and industry professionals the potential of infrastructure development including 26 Green Expressways-Highways and Rs.2 lakh crore worth of logistics parks.
“We have decided to go for capital markets, we will sell shares of maximum Rs.10 lakh per investment/person,” he said on 21 Aug 2022.
The initiative is to have people invest through InvIT for 7%-8% monthly return, he said at the National Conference for Civil Engineers and Professionals from Allied Industries. It was organized by Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (ACCE) in Mumbai.
He cited examples of Mumbai Pune Expressway and Worli Bandra Sealink to leverage capital markets for public infrastructure projects.
The Minister further elaborated on plans to build a world-class infrastructure.
“I have decided to make Indian road infrastructure up to the road infrastructure standards of those in the USA, before end of 2024.”
“In Indian infrastructure, there is huge potential for road construction, river connectivity, solid and liquid waste management, parking plaza, irrigation, ropeways and cable car projects,” he said.
Gadkari also underlined, “We need to accept good technology, research, innovation and successful practices from across the world and from within India for developing a world class infrastructure.
“We should use alternative materials to reduce cost without compromising on quality. Time is the most important aspect in construction, it is the biggest asset.”
Pitching his idea of using greener alternatives in road construction, Gadkari said, “You should find alternatives to cement and other raw materials. Glass fibre steel can be used in place of steel. If there is competition, cost will come down and become reasonable.”
Propagating the idea of using alternative fuels, he said, “Green hydrogen is future fuel. My dream is to make green hydrogen available at US$1/kg which can be used in aviation, railway, bus, truck, chemical and fertilizer industry, replacing coal and petroleum.”
Gadkari said 1 litre of ethanol costs Rs.62 but in terms of calorie value, 1 litre of petrol is equivalent to 1.3 litre of ethanol.
The Petroleum Ministry has certified the technology for making calorie value of ethanol equivalent to petrol. This technology has come from Indian-Russian collaboration.
Reiterating his idea of creating wealth from waste, Gadkari said, “In Nagpur, we are recycling sewage water and selling it to state government for power projects, which is earning us Rs.300 crore royalty per year from sewage water.
“There is huge potential of Rs.5 lakh crore in solid and liquid waste management in the country.”
“Knowledge is power, conversion of knowledge into wealth is the future. It is leadership, vision and technology which enables conversion of waste into wealth. This is the need of the hour.
“Using knowledge, we can reduce cost and improve quality of construction,” he elaborated. fiinews.com
