The Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has reportedly said that Modi government’s 'fast-decision making', online clearances, policy intervention and other measures has led to roll out of majority of the Rs 3.8 lakh crore stuck highways projects, barring 41 which were terminated and 10-12 of which are in final stages of roll out.
Gadkari stated that the time he has taken the reins of the ministry there were 283 stalled projects worth Rs 3.8 lakh crore. For two-and-a-half years, the previous Environment and Forest Minister did not sign a single file hence majority of the projects were stuck on account of forest clearances and regulatory hurdles. Currently the country is following four important initiatives led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, - innovation, entrepreneurship, e-governance and development oriented policies, which led to a positive outcome where new changes were now brought in.
He stated that in the past one year more than Rs 1.35 lakh crore projects have been awarded in the highways sector, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is doing immense work on Rs 3.8 lakh crore projects and Rs 1 lakh crore worth of work is being done in the North Eastern region. He further added that his ministry has undertaken an initiative under which 1 per cent of a highway project would be allocated for the greening of India's about 1 lakh km of National Highways network.