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TICKER TAPE
INFRASTRUCTURE The road to development relies on infrastructure that is undoubtedly In the current fiscal, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry aims
WITH MORE NH STRETCHES, MULTI-MODAL NETWORK,
BUDGET 2022: THE GOVERNMENT MUST FOCUS ON
INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT AND PROVIDE A BOOSTER
2022 TO BE BETTER FOR ROAD SECTOR: UNION ROAD
TRANSPORT SECRETARY
DOSE TO THE ECONOMY
the backbone of every economy and is a distinguishing factor
to construct 40 Kms of national highway every day.
Next year, road sector will see a massive boost as there will more
between developed and developing nations. India is now about
a $3.1 trillion size economy and it aims to touch the $5 trillion
stretches of national highways, awarding and completion of
mark by 2025. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to target a
than the passing one. The 2022 radar will also see connectivity
double-digit growth which has to come from all the sectors –
with remote and tough terrains, an integrated multi-modal
manufacturing, trade, services, agriculture coupled with an multiple projects and fund raises in 2022, making it a better year
increase in export volumes. Multiple efforts are needed from national network of transportation and logistics, decongestion of
several directions but the most important is an investment in major points in the road network as well as steering ahead with
infrastructure. Besides, the pandemic has affected economic the voluntary vehicle scrappage policy, Union Road Transport
growth. Private sector investments and private consumption Secretary Giridhar Aramane was quoted saying. In the current
have been falling. The third wave of infection has brought more fiscal, the Road Transport and Highways Ministry aims to construct
challenges. Under these turbulent times, the government must 40 Kms of national highway every day. The target aimed by the
focus on infrastructure investment and provide a booster dose ministry is higher than the record construction of 37 Kms daily
to the economy. Infrastructure spending directly contributes to during 2019-20 period.
employment and investment besides having a big multiplier effect According to Aramane, the achievement by the ministry can be
on any economy. India must scale to new heights in physical, much more than the current financial year. The ministry also has
social and digital infrastructure. a pipeline for awards next year under the Bharatmala Pariyojna
and the National Highway general programme, he said. Projects
Robust transportation have been identified by the ministry which need to be offered next
The upcoming budget should target more spending on the year under the Bharatmala Pariyojna.
country’s infrastructure and aim at resolving bottlenecks in some Regarding road assets’ monetisation, Aramane pointed out that
of the big projects. A clear road map needs to be drawn for all the roads constructed by the state agencies are monetised
the completion of ongoing freight corridor projects, high-speed for a short period of time, ranging from 1 to 3 years, or for a
railway projects to facilitate businesses and the movement of longer tenure spanning 15 to 25 years. So, as soon as the ministry
people and goods. The focus on building more roads and railways completes a road construction, MoRTH will toll it for a year, if the
has been exceptionally high since 2014 and has been one of market outlook is not good. The ministry will do it for 3 years or
the foremost factors in alleviating the effect of the pandemic. under the Infrastructure Investment Trust or under the Toll Operate
The government should also focus on improving the productivity Transfer model if the appetite is good, the Secretary further said.
of existing stretches, set up more electric vehicle charging He also mentioned the Modi government is thinking of securitising
infrastructure. More attention should be accorded to high- Delhi-Dehradun and Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway projects.
speed rail and semi high-speed rails, urban transport projects, Besides, the ministry is also planning securitisation of the Raipur–
modernization of stations and signalling systems. Visakhapatnam NH project, which is going to be India’s first mineral
highway in terms that it carries most of the mineral produced in the
A humane outlook on social development states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand to Visakhapatnam
Budget 22 should be more humane in its outlook. The Union port as well as other economic centres. One of the major initiatives
Budget in 2021 had allocated `2,238,460 million outlay for the taken this year by the ministry was the Vehicle Scrappage Policy’s
healthcare sector and well-being. Our health infrastructure – at announcement, which will phase out unfit vehicles, he said.
primary, secondary and tertiary levels was in bad shape even While in this fiscal, development work continued on the different
before the spread of Covid-19. There is inequality where the lower NH projects and tunnels at high speed, including Bangalore-
strata income group suffers the most. The pressure on hospitals and Chennai Expressway, Delhi-Mumbai Expressway and Zojila tunnel,
healthcare centres at one point in time seemed insurmountable foundation stone was laid for the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway as
as healthcare workers worked round the clock. The budget must well as other projects. The ministry, as part of the ‘PM GatiShakti–
allocate greater outlays for the health sector – both preventive and National Master Plan’, is also working towards building an integrated
curative. Similarly, several aspects of the current education system multi-modal national network of transportation and logistics.
need a fresh outlook especially education for school-age group
children. Covid has widened the learning gap where both urban
and rural poor got the worst hit. An outlay needs to be allocated for
new digital tools of learning and internet access for the poor else
the gap shall become become permanent. The education sector
was allotted a `932,240 million outlay through the union budget
of 2021. The current government must lay greater emphasis on
taking pre-emptive measures and introducing more schemes in
both the education & healthcare sectors.

58 CONSTRUCTION OPPORTUNITIES|MARCH 2022