In written reply to Rajya Sabha, Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari says NHAI's debt was Rs 3.07 lakh crore on 31 March 2021, up from Rs 2.49 lakh crore in March 2020.
By 2024, India’s road infrastructure will be comparable to US & Europe, with access-controlled expressways, public transport running on electricity, Nitin Gadkari said at ThePrint's Off the Cuff.
Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism & Culture has also said it is ‘distressed’ to note NHAI’s Rs 97,000-crore debt servicing liability in the coming years.
The two highways are part of 22 greenfield expressways the govt has proposed to build. A third, between Amritsar and Jamnagar, will be completed by March 2023.
The revised Model Concession Agreement for BOT (toll) projects seeks to plug delays by imposing a deadline on NHAI and incentivising timely work by concessionaires.
A round-up of the most important reports in major newspapers around the country – from TOI and HT, Express and The Hindu to The Telegraph, Mumbai Mirror and The Tribune, as well as top financial dailies.
Economists say there are weaknesses in India’s GDP data. But statisticians claim the accusations are based on flawed understanding, saying while GDP has problems, the economists are looking in the wrong places.
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