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Need to push MSME sector, highway construction: Gadkari
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SME Times News Bureau | 04 May, 2020
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has a simple mantra at hand, build more,
build faster while maintaining all precautions to beat the Covid-19
induced economic slowdown.
Gadkari, the Union Minister for
Minister of Road Transport & Highways, Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises, in an exclusive interview with IANS, talked about a massive
push to infrastructure creation as a means to mitigate the economic
fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic and to accelerate growth.
In
essence, the minister aims to attain a faster pace of highway
construction, boost the Bharatmala Pariyojana programme, and aid the
MSME and the auto sectors, among others.
Lately, Gadkari has been
in touch with various stakeholders spanning multiple sectors via video
conferencing to devise the strategies to re-start the clogged road
networks, rescue the stranded truck drivers and allow limited
construction activity.
At present, India is under a more relaxed
form of lockdown which will last till May 17. However, ratings agencies
have cut the country's GDP forecast on lack of economic activities.
Besides, many companies have instituted pay cuts and have downsized their workforce.
The
circumstances are set to trigger a recessionary cycle, even though
India has not been hit very hard by the actual pandemic due to the early
preventive measures adopted by the Centre.
However, the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus has had an adverse impact on the country's economy.
The
lockdown has dealt a heavy blow to commerce leading to temporary
closure of shopping malls, dine-in restaurants, grounding of aircraft,
shutting down of factories, leaving the major market places deserted.
Not
just sectors such as airlines, tourism, hotels and automobiles, but
even the government's own revenue accretion has been impacted.
Particularly impacted are the MSMEs. The sector is essentially the backbone of the economy.
Consequently,
Gadkari has come out with a plan to revive the economy while keeping
all health related safeguards of social distancing in place.
According
to Gadkari, the Centre will not hesitate "to take any decision required
to bring complete transparency, remove bottlenecks and introduce
fast-track highway development".
"A lot of projects are of
national importance and immediate start of work on these projects is
very important. But we also understand the intensity of this pandemic. I
have reviewed the present scenario," the minister told IANS.
"Wherever
we can gradually open construction works in identified zones with the
permission of the local administration, we shall certainly do so. We are
exploring the possibility of restarting works as soon as possible.
"However,
we are only looking at allowing those works to start where standard
social distancing norms can be followed and highest standards of hygiene
and safety are adhered to," he said.
In terms of highway
development, the minister said: "Though we are hit by the Covid-19
pandemic, we aspire to maintain the momentum of last year and our
targets for construction in FY 2020-21 are slightly more than last year
at 10,250 km."
"Similarly, for awarding of new works, we have a target of 12,650 km," he added.
When
asked about the process of reviving the BOT (Toll) mode of highway
development and incorporation of amendments proposed in the Model
Concession Agreement (MCA), the minister replied: "After an exhaustive
process of consultations with all stakeholders, the process of
incorporation of amendments in the Model Concession Agreement of BOT
(Toll) mode is at the final stage."
"The objective of the entire
exercise has been to take into consideration the concerns of the highway
construction industry and revive BOT (Toll) mode as an attractive
option for concessionaires keen to work with the government in the PPP
domain," he said.
For the auto sector, the minister said that a
scheme for scrapping old vehicles for certain perks that can be used by
owners to buy new cars is being pursued and is also in the final stages.
The policy will benefit the auto sector and reduce the cost of procuring expensive metals such as copper from abroad.
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