My target is to achieve 100 km per day of highway construction: Union minister Nitin Gadkari

NEW DELHI: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday said infrastructure development is very important for the country and his target is to achieve the pace of 100 km per day in highway construction.

Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, the road, transport and highways minister said delays and not taking decisions is a big problem in the country. "Infrastructure (development) is very important for the country...Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made a world record of constructing 38 km of road in a day," he said.

The pace of highway construction in the country touched a record 37 km per day in 2020-21."...(but) I am not satisfied with the present performance," Gadkari said, adding that his target is to achieve the pace of up to 100 km per day of highway construction.

He said the prime push of the government is to have time-bound, result-oriented, transparent and corruption free system. Gadkari, who is also known for his frank views, slammed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials for delaying projects or posing obstacles in work.

"If any one (contractor) wants to change his bank or financial institution, it takes him 3 months to 1.5 year to take NOC from NHAI...we can make this possible in 2 hours, then why is there a delay for 1.5 years, I am asking this question to officials. The problem is that the bureaucratic system never understands the meaning of time," he said.

Gadkari said asset monetisation is key to meet finances for road projects and the government is confident that NHAI will be able to raise Rs 1.40 lakh crore per year from existing highway projects. Emphasizing on replacing diesel fuel, he requested contractors to use green fuels such as ethanol, CNG etc for construction equipment and offered to provide advances for green construction equipment.