Government aims to build 2 lakh km highways by 2024: Nitin Gadkari

The government aims to take the national highway network length to 2 lakh km by 2024, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.

Addressing a FICCI event, Gadkari said that the road ministry will also be opening up projects under the build operate transfer (BOT) model once again.

Gadkari reiterated his aim of replacing the use of petrol and diesel with alternative fuels.

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At the end of November 2021, the total length of national highways in India had increased from nearly 91,287 km in April 2014 to about 1,40,937 km.

The government is targeting a pace of 50 km per day for the construction of national highways in the country, he said and expressed hope that the pace in the current fiscal year will be higher than that of last fiscal.

At present the government is building highways at a rate of 35 km per day.

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The government will approach the capital market in September to raise funds for four road projects. The money will be raised through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs).

There will be an investment limit of Rs 10 lakh for retail investors, with an assured return of 7-8 per cent, he said.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are instruments modelled after mutual funds, designed to pool money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over a period of time.