Govt to announce new guidelines for road projects

The Road Transport & Highways Ministry will come out with new specifications for road projects within next 10 days. Speaking at the India-UAE Trade and Investments Seminar in Mumbai, the Road Transport & Highways Minister, Kamal Nath said that the new specifications will look at improved technologies for the road sector besides a host of other issues so as to attract investment in the sector. He said, the Government was looking at mega road projects worth US$1bn (nearly Rs. 50bn) with a length 500 to 600 kilometers, which would ensure best of technology and management practices.

The Union Minister said India would need nearly US$10bn of foreign investment through debt, equity and pension funds for various road projects in the country. Nath said the financing of road projects would not be a problem as India continued to be a credible investment destination with a stable government at the centre. Moreover, he said, the traffic risk, which affects the revenue generating capacity of road projects in most parts of the world, is not a major factor in India. While pitching for relaxation of External Commercial Borrowing (ECB) norms, Nath said that Chaturvedi Committee was already looking into this issue.

The Minister informed that NHAI Board would meet soon to award a number of remaining road projects to successful bidders. He said 2000 kilometers of roads have already been built this year and the target of 3000 kms for this year was well within reach. Nath expressed confidence that Indian economy would continue to grow at a higher rate due to favorable demographics, high saving and investment rates.