TIL Desk/National/New Delhi/ Infrastructure is the foundation for development in any country. The government also views infrastructure as a bridge to address social inequality, said President Ram Nath Kovind while addressing the Parliament’s joint sitting on Monday.
“Investment in infrastructure not only generates lakhs of new jobs, but also has a qualitative impact, enhancing ease of doing business, facilitating faster transport and promoting economic activities across sectors”, the President said.
Speaking on the Pradhan Mantri Gatishakti National Master Plan to accelerate infrastructure development in the country, the President was hopeful that it will usher in a new era of multi-modal transport in India and the railways, highways and airways will no longer be separate and isolated infrastructures.
Kovind said that around 36,500 km of roads have been built in rural areas, at the rate of more than 100 km per day and thousands of habitations have been connected with all-weather roads. “As against 90,000 km of national highways in March 2014, today we have more than 1,40,000 km of national highways.
Under the Bharatmala Project, construction of more than 20,000 km of highways is in progress with an outlay of about Rs 6 lakh crore, including 23 green expressways and green-field corridors”, said President. He also said that the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway is also nearing completion and will be the longest and fastest expressway in India.
