Indian roads to match US standards by 2024: Nitin Gadkari
Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Nitin Gadkari promised on Friday that road infrastructure in India would be equal to the standard of the United States (US) before the end of 2024. The minister, speaking at the 95th Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) Annual convention, stated India has been building world-class infrastructure.
We are making the World Standard Road infrastructure: Gadkari
The Union Minister also addressed the issue of the current high logistics cost incurred by businesses, pledging that the same will be reduced from 16% to 8%. "We are making the World Standard Road infrastructure in the country and promising you that before the end of 24, our road infrastructure will be equal to the standard of the USA standards," he said.
Gadkari's address at 95th FICCI Annual Convention
Minimize the use of steel in construction work: Gadkari
"We know that the construction industry not only contributes significantly to environmental pollution but also conserves 40% of Global materials and resources. As we are aware that cement and steel are the major components for construction, so we are trying to minimize the use of steel in construction work by trying to adopt substitutes," Gadkari was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Power of green hydrogen
He also emphasized that India is in an excellent spot to project itself as an energy exporter and added that soon, green hydrogen would be an energy source. "Green hydrogen is the fuel for the future. In near future, green hydrogen will be a source of energy in the aviation, railway, road transport, chemical and fertilizer industries," the minister stated.
Towards electric mobility
The minister also added that by 2030, electric mobility would be the most effective transport system. Gadkari said that a few days back, a Canadian Company reached out to him to explain how to get Manganese and Cobalt by mining in the oceans. "A lot of research is happening globally with regard to batteries. We should be the leaders in this sector," he said.
India aims to be a superpower: Rajnath Singh
Rajnath Singh also spoke at the event on Saturday and said that India aims to be a superpower and work towards global welfare. Singh also stressed that "we will never have the intention to capture even one inch of the land of any other country".
Essential to make India super power: Singh
"Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) during his address from Red Fort talked about five pledges to the country, which are essential to make India super power and it shouldn't be considered that we want to dominate any country or we have the intention to capture even one inch of land of any other country," Singh said at the FICCI Annual Convention.