Aiming To Build 60,000 Km Of World-Class National Highways By 2024: Nitin Gadkari

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Friday (9 July) said that he is aiming to construct 60,000 kilometres of world-class national highways by 2024 at a rate of 40 kilometres per day, reports Livemint.

Speaking at the 16th annual conference on "Road Development in India", Gadkari said, "India has about 63 lakh kilometre of the road network, which is the second-largest in the world. Road infrastructure plays a critical role in the growth of the Indian economy."

He emphasised that the Government is investing Rs 111 lakh crores in infrastructure development through National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and that the Government has increased year-on-year infrastructure capital expenditure (capex) by 34 per cent to Rs 5.54 lakh crore this year.

Elected to the Lok Sabha from Nagpur constituency, Gadkari has been leading the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways since 26 May 2014, when Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi began his first tenure at the helm of affairs of the country. He has also served as the Minister of Shipping, and as the Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.