New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Demands for Grants for Road Transport and Highways after Minister Nitin Gadkari gave a detailed reply and said the ministry had also succeeded in creating avenues for jobs.
Mr. Gadkari announced that all highways will have FASTag in four months and it will be made mandatory for all the vehicles.
The Demand for Grants was passed with voice vote after Mr. Gadkari responded to clarifications sought by various members including the likes of Congress floor leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Trinamool Congress leader Sudip Bandyopadhyay and N K Premachandran of RSP.
Mr. Bandyopadhyay described Mr. Gadkari as 'sapnoan ka saudagar' and responding to him, Mr. Gadkari said during the last five years, he has fulfilled most of the promises he made on road projects.
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The Minister also said under Bharatmala alone, 1,000 km roads are being taken up in West Bengal.
Mr. Gadkari also informed Farooq Abdullah of National Conference that a Rs 7,000 crore has been earmarked for Jammu and Kashmir, and maintained that work done in the state was more than in the previous 25 years.
Not a single paisa of corruption did take place during these five years, he stressed, adding that he will not tolerate 'bad work in our country'.
He said tolls will never go away, although the rates may vary. ''If you want good services then you will have to pay for it.''
To a query of Congress leader Chowdhury that the usage of Electric Vehicles would be costlier and there could be issues of funds, Mr. Gadkari said there is no shortage of funds and the government has three principal sources to tap money including private investment and internal resource mobilization.
Rs 58 lakh crore has been given till now for FASTag project, Mr. Gadkari said, adding that ''Our NHAI project, started during Late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, is a successful model and received AAA rating.''
No vehicle without FASTag will be able to go through the National Highways, he said.
''Today, more than 80 percent capital expenditure is being spent on road and highways and turnover has doubled in the past five years,'' Mr. Gadkari said.
He said common people will be involved while constructing roads. ''Money will be taken from common people like teachers and constables and interest will be given which will be much higher than the banks.'' This way, ordinary people will be benefitted and the infrastructure will be improved.
He also said 22 Green Express Highways will be constructed, including between Delhi and Mumbai. Highways have been constructed through backward areas and as much as Rs 16 thousand crores were saved in land acquisition only in this way.
''Work will be completed in 2.5 to 3 years. We will be able to travel from Delhi to Mumbai in 12 hours,'' he said, adding that logistics parks are also being set up and many such innovative schemes are being brought up.
Mr. Gadkari said after he became minister, 95 percent problems of the land acquisition have been solved and banks saved Rs 3 lakh crore of NPA.
He said works are being done through Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), Toll-Operate-Transfer (TOT) scheme, Masala Bond ( rupee-denominated borrowings issued by Indian entities in overseas markets) and National Infrastructure Investment Fund (NIF).
''We are monetizing the assets and moving on, thus following various financial models''.
There is a deficiency of 25 lakh drivers in the country, Mr. Gadkari said and suggested that he was ready to provide training institutes in every constituency where locals and tribals could be trained.
So, drivers will be available to the country and people will get employment also, he added. The minister also proposed to bring a new draft law to ensure more safety to road traffic.