press trust of india
New Delhi, Dec 24: To facilitate trade with bordering countries like Nepal and Bangladesh, India will link its major highway corridors to international trade points at a cost of Rs25,000 crore, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
About 2,000 km of highways will be constructed under the plan. “About 2,000 km of highways will be constructed to link major highways corridors to international trade points,” the road transport and highways minister said.
He said this will be to facilitate trade with Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The project is part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana, he added.
The Cabinet had October 25 approved a mega plan to build 83,677 km of highways by March 2022 at a cost of about Rs7 lakh crore, which includes the ambitious Bharatmala project at a cost of about Rs5.35 lakh crore.
Asked about the funding for the project, Gadkari said the entire Rs5.35 lakh crore for Bharatmala has been tied up as Rs2.37 lakh crore would flow from the central road fund, Rs2.05 lakh crore as market borrowing, Rs34,000 crore from monetisation of highway projects and Rs60,000 crore through budgetary allocation.
The minister said that besides project to link highway corridors with international trade points, there are several other projects under implementation which aim to facilitate India’s international connectivity with neighbouring countries in South Asia and Asean.
