With electric vehicles fast becoming the new reality, Union Minister for MSME and Road Transport & Highways  Nitin Gadkari has stressed the need to emerge as pioneers in developing leading battery and power-train technologies.

Noting that the challenge we presently face is the control on strategic reserves of Lithium, which is used to manufacture Lithium-ion rechargeable batteries used in vehicles, the Minister has called upon the EV sector to shift towards a completely indigenous battery technology in the coming years. This could be metal-air, metal-ion and other potential technologies in the R&D pipeline.

Pointing out the need to achieve the goal of AATMA NIRBHAR BHARAT in Transport Sector, Nitin Gadkari said it is necessary to dedicate the coming years to rigorous research and development of such alternative battery technologies with the support of our Institutions of Eminence (IoEs), industry, scientists, engineers and the government.

(Published from PIB)

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The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) has created a record by constructing 534 km of National Highways (NHs) in the last week commencing 8 January.

The Ministry has constructed 8,169 km of National Highways (NHs) from April 2020 to 15 January 2021 in the current financial year 2020-21. In other words, on average, about 28.16 km of roads were constructed per day. During the same period in the last fiscal, 7,573 km roads were constructed, with a speed of 26.11 km of roads constructed per day.

The Ministry also awarded NH projects of 7,597 km during this period (April 2020 to 15 January 2021), whereas, in 2019-20, projects of 3,474 km were awarded during the same period. Thus, the pace of awarding NH projects has also more than doubled this fiscal.

In total, projects of 8,948 km of roads were awarded in 2019-20 while 10,237 km of roads were constructed.

The achievement assumes significance given the fact that the first two months of the current fiscal were lost due to the nationwide lockdown in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry has taken several initiatives to increase the pace of construction. The pace of construction is expected to increase further in the remaining months of the current financial year, which are conducive for construction activities. The MoRTH expects to cross the construction target of 11,000 km by 31 March this year.

(Published from PIB)

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The Government of India and the World Bank on December 22 signed a $500 million project to build safe and green national highway corridors in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh. The project will also enhance the capacity of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) in mainstreaming safety and green technologies.

The Green National Highways Corridors Project will support MoRTH construct 783 km of highways in various geographies by integrating safe and green technology designs such as local and marginal materials, industrial byproducts, and other bioengineering solutions. The project will help reduce GHG emissions in the construction and maintenance of highways.

Dr C S Mohapatra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance stated that the Government of India is committed to environmentally sustainable development in its infrastructure projects. This project will set new standards in the construction of safe motorable roads. The selected stretches in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh will also help improve connectivity and promote economic development.

The agreement was signed by Dr Mohapatra on behalf of the Government of India and Ms Sumila Gulyani, Acting Country Director, India on behalf of the World Bank.

The ultimate objective of transport infrastructure is to provide seamless connectivity and reduce logistics costs. The Government of India has launched many investment programs in road sector infrastructure to strengthen and improve logistics performance. This project will also support analytics to map the freight volume and movement pattern on the National Highway network, identify constraints, and provide innovative logistics solutions.

Historically, the transport sector in India has offered limited employment opportunities for women. The project will support the ministry with an in-depth analysis of gender-related issues in the transport sector along with help in creating jobs for women by training women-led micro enterprises and women collectives to implement green technologies in the highway corridors.

“Connectivity for economic growth and connectivity for sustainable development are two important aspects of a country’s development trajectory. This operation brings these two priorities together in support of India’s growth strategy,” said Mr Junaid Ahmad, World Bank Country Director in India. “This project will provide efficient transportation for road users in the four states, connect people with markets and services, promote efficient use of construction materials and water to reduce the depletion of scarce natural resources, and help lower GHG emissions,” he added.

The National Highways of India carry about 40 percent of road traffic. However, several sections of these highways have inadequate capacity, weak drainage structures and black spots prone to accidents. The project will strengthen and widen existing structures; construct new pavements, drainage facilities and bypasses; improve junctions; and introduce road safety features. It is imperative that the infrastructure investments are climate resilient. To this effect disaster risk assessment of about 5,000 km of the National Highway network will also be undertaken under the project along with support to ministry for mainstreaming climate resilience aspects in project design and implementation.

The $500 million loan from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a maturity of 18.5 years including a grace period of five years.

(Published from PIB)

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