In an exclusive interaction with The Dollar Business, Mansukh Lal Mandaviya, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, Shipping, Chemicals and Fertilisers, discusses at length the initiatives taken up by his government to create an enabling environment for these sectors and how he plans to overcome the global challenges hampering their growth.
TDB: What have been the biggest achievements of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways?
Mansukh Lal Mandaviya (MLM): The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has set an ambitious target of completing 2,00,000 km of national highways over the next five years. The country presently has more than 1,14,000 km of national highways, and the Ministry has, in principle, approved construction of another 46,000 km of the same. The Ministry has also received the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for implementing the Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) model in 75 public-funded national highway projects. We are also planning to construct multi-modal logistics parks under the Logistic Efficiency Enhancement Programme (LEEP) to improve freight and passenger mobility.
TDB: Can you throw some light on the latest projects of NHAI?
MLM: As of now, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has taken up three projects under the Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-Eastern Region (SARDPNE). These projects will cover 6,418 km of highways, out of which contracts for 5,215 km have been awarded. So far, 2,221 km of roads under this programme has already been constructed.
TDB: How is the Ministry encouraging the private sector to participate in the development of highway projects?
MLM: In the highway sector, the Ministry is encouraging participation in projects through public-private partnership (PPP) route. At the moment, the build-operate-transfer-toll (BOT-Toll) mode remains the preferred mode of project delivery, but the Ministry is encouraging PPP with hybrid annuity and toll-operate-transfer models.
TDB: What are your top priorities when it comes to the shipping sector?
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