Road Transports & Highways are one of the major economic growth potential factors in India. Only 24 percent of the National Highway network in India is four-lane, therefore there is immense scope for improvement as per the data of IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) Dec 2017 report. India is giving
100 percent FDI, permitted under the automatic across various infrastructure sectors. In budget 2017- 18, Rs 64,000 crores were allocated for Highways & in the forthcoming Budget 2018-19, Modi Government is planning to increase this to more than Rs 70,000 crore & additional they want to raise funds of more than Rs 60,000 crore with the permission of NHAI (National Highways Authority of India).
Meanwhile, in the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model for Highways, the private investment is below Rs 10,000 crores in 2017-18. There are many private players in India who have signed with Government in building Highways under PPP model but still, there is a need for more private investment in the construction of Highways. In December 2017, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) created the National Highways Investment Promotion Cell (NHIPC) to attract foreign and domestic investments towards highway projects in India.
Increasing the budgetary allocation for Highways in Budget 2018-19 & making mere plans by NHIPC to promote private investments will not help the Government to achieve its objective. Road Transport & Highways Ministry & NHIPC jointly should bring favorable plan actions so that it benefits both Government & Private players in the contribution of infrastructural growth in India.
Courtesy/By: Rakesh Gadigi
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17 Jan 2018
