New Delhi, Sep 2 (FN Agency) Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said the government is soon going to launch the national master plan of Prime Minister Gatishakti scheme of more than Rs 100 lakh crore for holistic and integrated infrastructure development in the country. Addressing the 29th Annual General Meeting of the American Chambers of Commerce in India on the theme ‘infrastructure propelling India in the global supply chain’ virtually, Gadkari said infrastructure development plays an important role in fulfilling the vision of India in becoming 5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years.
He said the government is investing 1.4 trillion dollars in infrastructure development through National Infrastructure Pipeline. The Minister said the Gatishakti master plan will provide the framework for the NIP program and is aimed at making Indian products more competitive by cutting down the logistic costs improving the supply chains. Gadkari emphasised the importance of well developed infrastructure for enhancing the level of economic activity, creating additional fiscal space by improving the revenue base of the government. He said the bilateral trade between India and the US has grown from 16 billion US dollars to 149 billion US dollars in the last two decades and is projected to reach more than 500 billion US dollars by 2025.
The Minister said the scope of technology transfer, innovation and research and development between India and the US must be further explored. Gadkari said to catalyze a long term investment into infrastructure, the government is in a process of setting up a new development finance institution DFR. The institution is being set up on a capital base of Rs 20,000 crore and will have a lending target of Rs 5 lakh crore in three years. He said the government is developing integrated inland waterways, air connectivity and road network at large. The Minister said India is becoming the largest EV market for electronic 2-wheelers, 3-wheelers and cars. ‘The US based companies can collaborate with our Research and Development towards EV battery technologies and retrofitting industry,’ he said.