To increase length of National Highways to 1.5 lakh kilometres
The 8th edition of the International Construction Equipment and Construction Technology Trade Fair – EXCON 2015 organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) was inaugurated by Mr. Nitin Gadkari, Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Government of India at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center (BIEC) on Wednesday.
In his inaugural address Mr. Gadkari, said that infrastructure development is highly essential for the progress of the country and the need of the hour was quality construction, good equipment and a good approach. “I urge the industry to explore the possibility of using bio-diesel or ethanol in construction machinery as it would aid in reducing pollution and also be in sync with my Government’s vision of a clean India that is free from pollution.” He also urged the industry to look at the manufacturing good machinery for tree transplantation to assist the green roads policy of his Ministry.
The Central Minister asked the industry to think about creating skilled manpower, as this was one of the shortcomings of the industry stating the example that the country was facing a 22 per cent shortage of drivers. Skill and scale are both important, he said. Referring to planned projects in the road ministry, Mr. Gadkari said that there is a good atmosphere for road development in the country today. “We are planning to increase the national highway road length from the current 96,000 to 1,50,000 kilometres.” He said that the government is also planning an express highway between Delhi and Srinagar, which will reduce travel time to just six hours and an express highway between Mumbai and Nagpur. Going forward, he said, his ministry is exploring the usage of waste material such as oil sludge in the construction of roads, making it more environment friendly. He mentioned that the government has planned 1200 centres for roadside amenities such as restaurants, rest houses etc. and 200 truck driver clubs.
Mr. Gadkari also touched upon the shipping industry saying that India has 12 major ports and three major corporations including Shipping Corporation of India, Cochin Port and Dredging Corporation. He announced that the government was planning new ports including Kolachel in Tamil Nadu, Kandla in Gujarat and Sagar in West Bengal. These ports would aid in movement of goods and services at a cheaper option than the highways. He also mentioned that there was a plan to convert 111 rivers into inland waterways. He said that his ministry’s target was to add 2% to the country’s GDP in two years and to add 50 lakh jobs over the next five years.
Addressing the delegates, Mr. Sumit Mazumder, President, CII, said India has achieved a 7.4% growth over the last decade and the IMF projects growth at 7.3% in 2015 and 7.5% in 2016. CII is optimistic about maintaining this pace of growth over the medium term with further acceleration in later years. The industrial growth is on steady upward trajectory led by higher growth in the manufacturing sector. He said that the country would continue to offer huge markets due to its infrastructure and real estate sectors. Railways road and highways power ports and airports offer big investment potential. Within the current ecosystem CII is taking up the promotion of capital goods industries and believes that with a strong and coordinated approach of government and the private sector, India can build an advanced and robust base of capital goods.
Mr. Vipin Sondhi, Chairman, EXCON 2015 while delivering the theme address said that the industry witnessed a difficult 36 months but there has been some stability right now. Excon remains the pre-eminent construction equipment exhibition grown into South Asia’s largest platform for propelling sustainable infrastructure growth not only in India but increasingly with an international flavour. Infrastructure growth is an absolutely critical enabler and probably the biggest multiplier for sustained economic growth and very importantly job creation as well. The 8th edition of Excon 2015 witnessed the participation of 810 exhibitors from 22 countries with country pavilions from China, Finland, Germany, Italy, South Korea, Spain, Turkey & UK.
Delivering the welcome address, Mr. Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII said that EXCON is the largest such event in South Asia that has increased ten fold in the last 15 years and is CII’s largest event in this sphere. He said that the presence of Mr. Gadkari was a great encouragement for the industry as he was someone who showed formidable acumen in fast tracking and cutting bureaucratic delays. He said that EXCON is an excellent blend of a showcase of Make in India as well as of overseas industries that the event has attracted.
In his address, Mr. Anand Sundaresan, President, ICEMA complemented the Government of India on the significant growth witnessed in the road sector. Industry production was higher than expected. However the construction industry went through a decline. EXCON has contributed to the adoption of latest machinery and technology in the construction industry in India. ICEMA will continue to work closely with ministry of road transport and highways and extend its full support to ensure world class technology and equipment for building world class national highways.