Addressing the National Conference on Future of Smart Roads – Safety, Sustainability and Resilience by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday, Gadkari laid out a roadmap for development of safe, sustainable, comfortable and economically viable road infrastructure in the country.
“Infrastructure is the backbone of our economy. If world-class infrastructure is developed across transport, power, communication and water, it will give an immense boost to our industry and trade, will attract capital investment, generate employment, raise per capita income and significantly reduce poverty,” he said.
Elaborating on his vision for sustainable road development, Gadkari said his ministry will soon come up with a Plan 2027 to formalise the use of segregated municipal waste in road construction.
“50% of the legacy solid waste in the country is in 15 cities. I have discussed the idea with the prime minister and there is a possibility of extending the use of segregated waste to even constructing roads under the Pradhan Mantri Sadak Yojana,” he said.
Gadkari said he plans to promote the use of construction equipment running on alternate fuels to reduce pollution and import of fossil fuel while also giving a boost to the agriculture economy in the country. “We are planning to give a five-seven year interest-free loan to road contractors buying construction equipment on alternate fuels to encourage large-scale use of such equipment,” he said, adding his ministry will seek approval from the finance ministry. Gadkari said his ministry will come down heavily on contractors and officers responsible for building faulty roads and not maintaining roads as per standards.
“I have directed my office to do project director (PD) and regional officer (RO)-wise classification of faulty roads where most accidents happen and undertake their performance audit to ensure quality roads are built and maintained.
“Road contracts have a 10-year defect liability clause yet officers responsible to oversee this are not doing their job properly and hence the need for performance audit,” he added.
Gadkari is of the view that his ministry has enough funds and there is huge economic viability for development of world-class road infrastructure in the country provided there is co-operation, communication and coordination between all stakeholders.