INDIA IS investing in roads and highways infrastructure worth Rs 3 lakh crore in its border areas near China in the Northeast, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Tuesday in remarks that come against the background of the latest faceoff between Indian and Chinese troops in the Tawang sector along the Arunachal Pradesh border.
“It is a sensitive matter. Work is going on. We are making roads and highways, be it in Arunachal, Meghalaya or Tripura. Ask any taxi driver there, they will tell you,” Gadkari said at the Express Adda programme. He was responding to a question on whether India was building border roads in light of the “ups and downs” in bilateral ties with China over the past couple of years.
Gadkari said strategic connectivity projects are coming up in all border areas, linking to the national highway network. “In Kashmir, I am constructing tunnels worth Rs 60,000 crore. Can you imagine? I am constructing four tunnels from Manali to Rohtang. From Ladakh to Srinagar… I am connecting that to Katra and then to Amritsar and to Delhi,” Gadkari said.
Gadkari also said that he will ask states to increase the speed limit of national highways to 140 kmph on eight-lane expressways and 120 kmph on six-lane highways, adding that he has asked his Ministry to formulate rules for trucks and buses to ply in lanes.
Speaking on road safety, Gadkari said he was passionate about reducing accidents. “About 60 per cent of those who die in accidents are between 18 and 24 years of age. So many people don’t die in wars and in Covid. For the same reason, we cannot allow two-wheelers in expressways,” he said. On the proposed vehicle scrappage policy, Gadkari said he was not in favour of scrapping vintage vehicles.
Gadkari said the countrywide highway network, as imagined during the NDA government of A B Vajpayee, is coming to life. “I am making 27 greenfield expressways, like Delhi-Mumbai, Delhi Dehradun… these are new roads. All of this will add to the development of backward areas,” he said.
In a freewheeling conversation on infrastructure, economy and politics, Gadkari said he wanted to build the highway infrastructure with funds invested by the poor of the country, who would benefit from the returns, and not money from abroad.
“Hindustan ke gareeb log hai, retired log hai… I give them a return of 8 per cent in the invIT fund. If I take foreign funds in dollars, the fluctuation in rates of dollar against rupee is a big problem. Besides, I would have to take a (sovereign) guarantee from the Finance Ministry. I don’t want to get into such complicated hassles,” he said.
“When people with proposals for funds come to me, I ask, would you need the guarantee of the Finance Ministry? If they say yes, then I say thank you very much, please have your tea and leave,” he said.