Innovation needed to reduce use of Steel and Cement in road construction: Gadkari

New Delhi, Jul 9 (KNN) Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways, Nitin Gadkari has said that use of steel and cement should be reduced in road construction without comprising on quality through innovation and research in 16th Annual Conference on “Road Development in India”.

Addressing the conference, he said CNG, LNG and ethanol should be used for the road equipment machinery. He emphasized on import substitution, cost-effective, pollution-free and indigenous methods and development of alternative fuel.

The union minister said India with about 63 lakh kms of the road network is the second largest road network in the world. He said road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the economy as 70 percent of the goods and nearly 90 percent of passenger traffic uses roads to commute.

He said Prime Minister has set a vision for India to become a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years.  He informed, the government is investing 1.4 trillion dollars i.e. Rs 111 lakh crores in infrastructure development through the national infrastructure pipeline, further this year, the government has increased year on year infrastructure capex by 34 percent to Rs. 5.54 lakh crores.

Increased investment in infrastructure would help create employment during covid pandemic. The minister said his aim was to construct 60,000 km world-class national highway at the rate of 40 km per day, he added.