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Soumik Dey
Soumik Dey

INFRA PUSH

BharatMala project to boost economy by 2-3%: Gadkari

PTI10_29_2015_000224A [File] Minister for Road Transport and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari | PTI

A day after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced recapitalisation of public sector banks, transport and shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari's much talked about 'blueprint for development' is ready.

It envisages a plan to link 550 districts and India's disconnected ports with a 35,000 kilometres highway network, at a total cost of Rs 5.35 trillion (lakh crore) over the next five years.

Replacing the existing National Highway Development Plan (NHDP), Gadkari officially announced the launch of NDA government's 'BharatMala' project on Oct 25.

"Our infrastructure plan will contribute 2-3 percent to the GDP and will create 2 lakh crore jobs. This is our target," Gadkari said announcing the project, which is due to start this year and complete the first phase (24,800 km roads) in a span of three years.

"For the first time, the ministry is creating express highways which is also part of the SagarMala project. With the BharatMala project we will be able to link 550 districts," said Gadkari. "Many of our ports do not have proper road connectivity yet, this will get addressed as part of BharatMala."

Distinguishing BharatMala from SagarMala, which was announced earlier for the shipping sector at a net outlay of Rs 16 lakh crore, Gadkari said, "Yeh do mala alag hai aur varmala ban kar desh ko jodega (These two garlands are different, they will join together to form a wedding garland and connect the nation)."

Speaking at the press briefing earlier, Finance Secretary Ashok Lavasa said, the existing NHDP has been the largest road sector programme getting implemented through 7 phases and any gaps in the NHDP will be addressed in the new project.

"We have reached a stage where the benefits of NHDP, wherever there are missing gaps and have to be optimalised, that is where BharatMala has been conceptualised to be finished by March 2022, over a five year period program," said Lavasa.

The minister also said that 44 economic corridors have been identified using space technology, which has gone through three layers and Rs 1.20 lakh crore will be spent for the creation of these economic corridors.

BharatMala project would also provide connectivity with 22 port point of entries including in the north-east (with Myanmar and Bangladesh) and in Uttar Pradesh (with Nepal).

The project would entail reconstructing highways, widening the existing roads and ensuring safe road designs. Currently, India has one among the highest number of highway fatalities in the world.

Gadkari said that the national roads development project would result in creation of 30-34 cr mandays of work and a significant number of job creation. "It is our constant aim to make roads safer and BharatMala will address this," he said.

India's GDP growth for the April-June quarter slipped to a three-year low of 5.7 per cent and caused resentments on account of lower job creation.

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