Dr. C.P. Joshi Addresses 2nd ASEM Transport Minister’s Meeting & Transport Development Forum at Chengdu, China
Dr. C.P. Joshi, the Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways has said that India’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. The ambitious National Highways Building Programme envisages investment of about US Dollars 70 Billion in next 5 years with a major share by way of Public Private Partnership(PPP) i.e. Build Operate Transfer (Toll) on Design Build Finance Operate and Transfer concept. The Government proposes to take the balance programme on Build Operate Transfer (Annuity) mode and Engineering Procurement Construction mode. Addressing at the “2nd ASEM Transport Minister’s Meeting & Transport Development Forum” at Chengdu, China today, he has said that the Incentives provided by Govt. of India for implementation of projects through PPP mode include grant of 40% Viability Gap Funding, allowing 100% Foreign Direct Investment, Tax concessions, and duty free imports on road construction equipments. The government intends to take up mega projects of about 400-500 km estimated to cost about US 1 billion dollars each and would welcome international investors, contractors, and concessionaires to participate in this programme.
He has said that India has evolved a very open and transparent bidding procedure and has formulated standard documents like Request For Qualification, Request For Proposal and Model Concession Agreement which clearly cover the obligations and responsibilities of the concessionaires and the Government. It has also put in place a well defined Dispute Resolution Mechanism in the Highways sector. It intend to incorporate and encourage use of new materials / technologies for road construction to reduce greenhouse gas emission. The government is open to and rather keen on collaborative ventures in research that covers the above mentioned core areas as it would mutually benefit the economy at a macro level.
Referring to the concept of Green Highway i.e. self-sustainable highway growing in the developing countries for quite some time, he has informed that India is also participating in the Green Highway Campaign. The main focus of it’s planning includes preservation of natural resources, storm water and waste management, energy conservation; reduce strain on local infrastructure and optimization of life cycle, innovations in the field of highway construction, operation and maintenance.
The Minister has said that India is in the process of modernizing Toll Collection Systems by introducing Electronic Toll Collection and Introduction of Smart Tags / Cards on an extensive basis so that Road User’s can pass through various Toll Plazas without any hassles. The National Road Safety Policy and the decadal action plan for Road Safety are in the process of being finalized. Short term, medium term and long term activities that are based on the outcomes of reducing accidents and fatalities are envisaged to be a part of the Decadal Action Plan. The government’s emphasis is on 4 Es of Road Safety – Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Emergency care and Making Road Safety Audit an integral part of highways projects.
Dr. Joshi warmly invited Companies and Investors to participate in India’s Infrastructure Development Programme in the Road Sector. We are ready to provide all necessary support. At present 40 road construction projects are being constructed with participation of Companies from China, Russia, U.K., Dubai, Singapore, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Spain and Thailand. 64 road projects of 3463 kms worth US Dollars 35.91 billion have been completed and 40 projects are under implementation for 3810 kms worth US Dollars 63.82 billion.
The theme of this meeting is “Asia-Europe Connect: Green, Secure and Efficient”. The objective is to establish an integrated transport system for the facilitation of trade and people-to-people contact between Asia and Europe. Following the Hanoi Declaration on the closer ASEM partnership adopted in 2004, the ASEM-Member countries have committed themselves to establish the ASEM Transport Cooperation Framework and explore common policy solutions. ASEM Transport Minister’s Meeting is a high-level dialogue between the Transport Sectors of Partners in the two continents under the framework of ASEM. It is of far-reaching significance to the materialization of the initiatives put forward by the leaders, deepen the transport cooperation among Asian and European countries, and the common development and prosperity of the two continents.
Following is the text of Dr. C.P. Joshi’s address :
"I thank the host and the organizers, Government of China and Ministry of Transport for this wonderful opportunity to interact and exchange the experience and expertise in the Transport Sector, focused on developing the Asia-Europe Transport Connectivity through adoption of Green Technology and ensuring Transport Safety and Security.
Honourable friends, as we together deliberate on a landmark Asia-Europe Corridor, I propose to take a leap in the distant past and invoke those golden days of the ‘Silk-Route’, essentially a trade-network that facilitated an inter-civilizational exchange of innovation, information and resources. The reference is not coincidental, for the venue of the summit, Chengdu, makes it imperative that the echoes of ‘silk route’ reverberate as a context through the deliberations; our host city being one of the key hubs of the chosen metaphor.
India’s economy is one of the fastest growing in the world. Our ambitious National Highways Building Programme envisages investment of about US Dollars 70 Billion in next 5 years with a major share by way of Public Private Partnership(PPP) i.e. Build Operate Transfer (Toll) on Design Build Finance Operate and Transfer concept. We propose to take the balance programme on Build Operate Transfer (Annuity) mode and Engineering Procurement Construction mode.
Incentives provided by Govt. of India for implementation of projects through PPP mode include grant of 40% Viability Gap Funding, allowing 100% Foreign Direct Investment, Tax concessions, and duty free imports on road construction equipments. We intend to take up mega projects of about 400-500 km estimated to cost about US 1 billion dollars each and would welcome international investors, contractors, and concessionaires to participate in this programme.
India has evolved a very open and transparent bidding procedure. We have formulated standard documents like Request For Qualification, Request For Proposal and Model Concession Agreement which clearly cover the obligations and responsibilities of the concessionaires and the Government. We have also put in place a well defined Dispute Resolution Mechanism in the Highways sector.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we intend to incorporate and encourage use of new materials / technologies for road construction to reduce greenhouse gas emission. We are open to and rather keen on collaborative ventures in research that covers the above mentioned core areas as it would mutually benefit the economy at a macro level.
The concept of Green Highway i.e. self-sustainable highway has been growing in the developing countries for quite some time and India is also participating in the Green Highway Campaign. The main focus of our planning includes preservation of natural resources, storm water and waste management, energy conservation; reduce strain on local infrastructure and optimization of life cycle, innovations in the field of highway construction, operation and maintenance.
India is in the process of modernizing Toll Collection Systems by introducing Electronic Toll Collection and Introduction of Smart Tags / Cards on an extensive basis so that Road User’s can pass through various Toll Plazas without any hassles.
The National Road Safety Policy and the decadal action plan for Road Safety are in the process of being finalized. Short term, medium term and long term activities that are based on the outcomes of reducing accidents and fatalities are envisaged to be a part of the Decadal Action Plan.
Our emphasis is on 4 Es of Road Safety – Education, Enforcement, Engineering and Emergency care and Making Road Safety Audit an integral part of highways projects.
I warmly invite Companies and Investors to participate in India’s Infrastructure Development Programme in the Road Sector. We are ready to provide all necessary support.
At present 40 road construction projects are being constructed with participation of Companies from China, Russia, U.K., Dubai, Singapore, Italy, South Korea, Malaysia, Spain and Thailand. 64 road projects of 3463 kms worth US Dollars 35.91 billion have been completed and 40 projects are under implementation for 3810 kms worth US Dollars 63.82 billion.
I am sure that during the interaction at this platform many fruitful and essentially constructive developments in this sector will be realized. I wish all the success to the host country and the organizers and my colleagues from other participant member countries and look forward to extensive cooperation amongst all of us.
Friends, as we resolve to build corridors of cooperation, I sincerely wish and have faith that these yet ‘untrodden roads’ would be ‘Green, Secure and Efficient’ and would make all the difference for the generations to come!”
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