Gadkari calls for increase in investment in highways
India’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sector is going to the capital market soon, which along with the automobile industry, will be leading in economic growth.
Sharing this information, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs Nitin Gadkari called for increased investment by international institutions and bodies in the Indian Highways and MSME sectors.
Addressing the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce and Womennovator on Trade Investment and collaborations in Road infrastructure and MSMEs on 12 August 2020, he informed that investment in infra and insurance sectors has been opened up, as there are huge opportunities in insurance, pension and sharing of economic prosperity.
Addressing the virtual conference, Gadkari noted that Australian cooperation has provided better designs for roads and awareness opportunities for the public on road safety.
Under Indian Road Safety Assessment Programme, 21,000 km roads have been assessed and about 3,000 km road length is under technological upgrade.
Better road engineering and increased public awareness have brought about improvement, he added.
Gadkari believes that upgraded roads will reduce accidents by about 50% that “our objective is to set out to achieve zero road fatalities by 2030”.
He highlighted that the World Bank and ADB have committed Rs.7,000 crore each to India’s initiatives to reduce road accidents.
The other is the MV Act of 2019, a comprehensive legislation on all aspects of the Transport sector in India.
Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack expressed confidence that the ties between two countries will grow further comprehensively in different fields including trade and commerce.
He stressed to delegates on the need for building infrastructure and added that this is one way of overcoming Covid-19 pandemic. fiinews.com
