Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, asked management experts to create finance models on Monday in order to boost the infrastructure sector’s economic viability, efficiency, and investment.\
Gadkari said the union government was giving a lot of importance to innovation, research, and technology for determining the future of the infrastructure sector in the nation while kicking off a week-long virtual programme on “Infrastructure Sector in the Indian Economy and the Financing Challenge”.
In his remarks, Gadkari noted that the Indian Institute of Management-Kozhikode (IIM-K) event’s focus was on lowering building costs while raising quality.
“Innovative income generation and financing strategies should be examined by management professionals in order to increase the infrastructure sector’s economic viability, efficiency, and investment. For determining the direction of the infrastructure sector’s future, we place a high value on innovation, research, and technology, he said.
According to him, 70% of commodities and 90% of passenger traffic are conveyed by roads, which is why they are so important to the development of the Indian economy.
He said that the union administration will quicken development in the infrastructure sector with the aid of private-public investment. “Our top aim is to reduce the logistics cost from its present range of 13 to 14% of GDP. Infrastructure improvement increases exports and makes our company and products more competitive globally.
Developing the agricultural sector as well as the rural and tribal economies, he continued, was the biggest issue facing the Indian economy.
We need to focus more on the 120 aspiring districts, which are underdeveloped in terms of social mobility, economic development, and educational attainment.
According to IIM-K, the week-long programme was created at the Ministry of Finance’s request to primarily address the needs of public sector officials working in the infrastructure sector or planning to do so, as well as those dealing with it in light of recent GOI initiatives like the Asset Monetization Programme, PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, REITS & InvITs, and Regulatory frameworks, including ESG.
