25 Greenfield Expressways To Be Built at a cost of Rs 6 Lakh Crore: Nitin Gadkari

New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that the government is constructing 25 greenfield highways with a total length of 10,000 km across the country at a cost of Rs 6 lakh crore. “The highways ministry will get Rs 15 lakh crore if it earns money from road projects,” the minister said at an event here.

Speaking at the annual session of PHDCCI, Gadkari also said that 75-80 per cent of the work on the strategic Zojila Tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity between the Ladakh region and the rest of the country, has been completed. Construction of highways and economic corridors has helped reduce the country’s logistics costs to 10 percent from 16 percent earlier,” Gadkari said.

According to industry estimates, logistics costs are around 12 percent in the United States, 12 percent in European countries, and 8 to 10 percent in China. “However, India’s logistics cost will reduce to 9 percent by December, which will help India become more competitive,” the minister said.

Regarding India’s automobile sector, the minister said that our goal is to make India’s automobile sector number 1 in the world within five years. “When I took over as transport minister, the size of the Indian automobile industry was Rs 14 lakh crore. The size of the Indian automobile industry is now Rs 22 lakh crore,” Gadkari added.

The minister also said that the automobile sector provides employment to 4 lakh youth and provides highest GST to the center and states. Currently, the size of the US automobile industry is Rs 78 lakh crore, followed by China at Rs 47 lakh crore and India at Rs 22 lakh crore.

“India’s dependence on fossil fuels is an economic burden as Rs 22 lakh crore is spent annually on fuel imports and is an environmental hazard, making the adoption of clean energy vital for the country’s progress. There is a need to focus on agriculture to boost India’s GDP growth,” he said.

Gadkari also pointed out that farmers earn an additional income of Rs 45,000 by producing ethanol from maize. “When we decided to produce ethanol from maize, the market price of maize was Rs 1,200 per quintal and MSP was Rs 1,800 per quintal. Following the government’s decision to blend ethanol with petrol, maize prices rose to Rs 2,800 per quintal. An additional Rs 45,000 Million came into the pockets of farmers in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh,” he added.