Govt to raise funds from capital market for 4 road projects

The government will approach the capital market next month to raise funds for four road projects through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), Gadkari said while inaugurating the 3rd Edition of Roads and Highways Summit of FICCI.

An infrastructure investment trust or InvIT, simply put, is a pooled investment vehicle like a mutual fund. Unlike mutual funds which invest the money in financial securities, InvITs invest them in real infrastructure assets like roads, bridges, power plants, etc.

Opportunities will be there for common people to get assured returns on their investments, he said.

The investment limit for retail investors will be Rs 10 lakh, he said, adding that there will be an assured return of 7-8 percent, according to media reports.

He said the road transport ministry will open projects once again under the build operate transfer (BOT) model once again.

The total length of national highways (NHs) has increased from about 91,287 km in April 2014 to about 1,40,937 km at the end of November 2021, he said, adding that he aims to take the national highway network length to 2 lakh km by 2024.

He emphasised the need to bring down logistics costs from 16 percent to 10 percent of GDP, and noted that an integrated approach is needed to achieve this reduction.

Pitching for greener and cheaper transportation, Gadkari said the use of petrol and diesel should be reduced and alternative fuels like LNG and ethanol, methanol, hydrogen should be encouraged as they are cost-effective and sustainable.