Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways Nitin Gadkari has said that the use of steel and cement should be reduced in road construction without comprising quality through innovation and research. Addressing the 16th Annual Conference on “Road Development in India” he said CNG, LNG, and ethanol should be used for the road equipment machinery. The Minister emphasized import substitution, cost-effective, pollution-free, and indigenous methods, and the development of alternative fuel.

Gadkari said India with about 63 lakh kms of the road network is the second largest road network in the world. He said road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the economy as 70 percent of the goods and nearly 90 percent of passenger traffic uses roads to commute. Gadkari said Prime Minister has set a vision for India to become a 5 trillion dollar economy in the next five years. 

He said Government is investing 1.4 trillion dollars i.e. Rs 111 lakh crores in infrastructure development through the national infrastructure pipeline, further this year, the Government has increased year-on-year infrastructure CAPEX by 34 percent to Rs. 5.54 lakh crores. Gadkari said increased investment in infrastructure would help create employment during the covid pandemic. The minister said his aim was to construct a 60,000 km world-class national highway at the rate of 40 km per day.