Three roads will be offered for fund raising through the Infrastructure Investment Trust (InVIT) of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) according to Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari. Speaking at the JPMorgan India Investor Summit, he said that a good response is expected for the same.
“We (NHAI) are going to approach the capital market. I am trying to get the investment from ‘small people’, credit cooperative societies, urban cooperative banks in the country,” Gadkari said.
He said that this is the first time that the centre is trying something on these lines.
In August this year, Gadkari said that NHAI is going to the capital markets next month. He said that there will be an investment limit of Rs 10 lakh per retail investor, with an assured return of 7-8%.
Shedding light on a large infrastructure project in the pipeline, he said that the centre is planning a new bridge of Rs 50,000 crores that will connect Virar to the Mumbai-Delhi express highway. Gadkari also said that the Maharashtra government is making a road from Worli-Bandra to Virar.
Speaking earlier in the day at the All India Management Association’s (AIMA’s) 49th National Management Convention Gadkari said that public transport needs to be encouraged with centre and states working together team.
He also stressed on diversification of agriculture into energy and power sector and use of alternative fuels like bio ethanol and bio Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
At another event also on Tuesday, Gadkari said that a decision has been taken to make 27 green express highways to reduce travel time. He hopes that by the end of December there will be new highways that reduce travel time from Delhi to places like Chandigarh, Amritsar, Katra, Srinagar, Mumbai, and Jaipur.
