Transport minister looking forward to revive confidence of private developers
Road transport minister Nitin Gadkari has said awarding contracts to build roads through the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) route would revive the confidence of private developers. Following this, he feels, the public-private partnership mode would gain currency automatically. Gadkari said this during an interview, when asked whether the road ministry’s recent preference for EPC meant it has abandoned the PPP route. The road sector is distressed and has seen loss of confidence by concessionaires, bankers and people at large. My topmost priority is to bring the sector back on the path of recovery by building confidence among stakeholders, the minister said.
Highway projects of 3,055 km were awarded through EPC in 2005-06, but it rapidly lost its sheen. The following year, only 345 km were awarded, and it further slipped to 89 km a year later when BoT projects were on ascent, peaking at 6,491 km in 2011-12. Not even a single EPC project was awarded in the sector between 2008-09 and 2011-12.
Gadkari, who has set a target of building 30 km of roads every day, said his ministry has created a shelf of over 500 projects that would be commissioned soon.
Source: The Financial Express
BOT projects, Engineering Procurement and Construction, EPC, EPC project, Gadkari, Nitin gadkari, road ministry, Road Ministry and Planning Commission, Road Transport Minister
