INFRA

Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of about 206 Km of National Highway projects worth nearly Rs 1,678 crore in Nashik, Maharashtra.

“At present almost all district headquarters in Maharashtra are connected to the National Highway. Due to the new highway projects, the connectivity of Nashik will increase,” Gadkari said while virtually inaugurating several highway projects in Nashik Sunday.

The minister inaugurated and laid foundation stone of about 206 Km long NH projects worth nearly Rs. 1,678 crore in Nashik, Maharashtra in the presence of Union Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Kapil Moreshwar Patil and Union Minister of State for Health & Family Welfare Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar.

The Government  wants its showpiece infrastructure project in Kashmir, the Zojila tunnel, to be inaugurated before 2024 general elections, asking the contractor to speed up work by about three years.

“They are supposed to complete it by September 2026. I have asked them to finish it by December 2023 so that the Prime Minister can inaugurate it before Republic Day of 2024. It's a challenge I know, but I'm confident they can do it on time,” Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said during an inspection of the Zojila tunnel's West portal in Baltal in Kashmir pm Tuesday. “Obviously, we would want it to be finished before the elections.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced an ambitious ₹ 100 lakh crore holistic infrastructure development programme ''Gatishakti'', which is aimed at boosting employment opportunities and productivity of industries.

"India needs a holistic and integrated approach in infrastructure construction along with modern infrastructure. In the near future, India is going to come out with Pradhan Mantri Gatishakti National Plan and launch it," he said in his address to the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort on India's 75th Independence Day.

PM Modi said the over ₹ 100 lakh crore scheme will bring new employment opportunities for lakhs of youth.

Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Wednesday pitched for formulating a policy for using the Reserve Bank of India's rising foreign exchange reserves for funding road projects, saying the country needs low cost finance for such infrastructure projects.

Addressing a virtual event organised by industry body CII, Gadkari further said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) should also have a financial arm like the Power Ministry's Power Finance Corporation (PFC).

"We have a surplus of dollar reserves in the country. I have decided to talk with the RBI Governor, about how we can formulate a policy by which we can use this foreign exchange reserves for development of infrastructure in the country," he said.

As a result of consecutive Covid-induced lockdowns, the Indian economy took a nosedive. With it, it took the real estate sector down too. However, a ray of hope has emerged in the realty sector with the rise of fractional ownership of mega-projects.

According to data compiled by hBits, a fractional ownership realty firm, fractional ownership has been rising over the last five years with an estimated total transaction of Rs 750 crores. Of this, Rs 350 crores worth of transactions took place in the last one year, i.e., after the first Covid lockdown was imposed.