Nitin Gadkari Stresses On Road Safety and Infrastructure Development

At the award night for NDTV Car & Bike Awards 2015, Nitin Gadkari, minister for road transport and highways, spoke on the government's plans for highway construction and ways to improve the road safety to curb the rising number of road fatalities in India.

The government that had aimed to build 30Km highways every day for the next 2 years, is confident of achieving its target much before the set time. The ministry that is short of funds, currently, aims to opt the PPP (Public Private Partnership) model for its infrastructure projects to make it economically viable. The only challenge, however, will be lowering interest costs. The government might also get foreign investment on the same model, he added further.

Showing his concern on improving the road safety, he said that the country needs to build safer roads as over 5 lakh accidents happen in India every year leading to a loss of Rs 55,000 crore that is about 3 per cent of the national GDP. And to make it possible, the govt needs to focus on three key areas - education, enforcement and engineering.

He also spoke about the alternative fuel and transportation system that India should now focus on. For instance, he said that waterways can be a great alternative that will be good both for environment and economy. It will be way cheaper to travel than any other medium.