The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is leaving no stone unturned to woo foreign investors, with the government eyeing the creation of 22 ‘Green Expressways’ across the country at a whopping Rs 10 lakh crore in investment.
“We have requested a generous hike in the highways budget and the finance ministry has responded warmly. However, given the amount, the project will require huge investment and that is the reason we are looking at inviting foreign investors for the project,” a senior official from the NHAI told this publication.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had recently invited Singaporean companies to invest in these highway projects and also look at setting up logistics and industrial parks around them. “Some firms have shown interest in the project. We are planning to do a roadshow in Singapore and Dubai in the next few weeks,” another official from the Ministry for Road Transport and Highways added.
The ministry is also planning to conduct many more road shows in Europe to attract companies willing to participate in the ambitious project.
Conceptualised by Gadkari in 2016, the Green Expressway project is planned to boast eco-friendly features like solar powered lighting, rainwater harvesting, intelligent traffic management and extensive green cover to make the highways ecologically sustainable.
For instance, the East Peripheral Expressway (also known as Kundli-Ghaziabad-Palwal (KGP) Expressway) was India’s first smart and green highway stretching 135 km.
This was the first expressway in the country with solar powered lighting along its entire length.
There are 8 solar power plants along this expressway having a capacity of 4000-kilo watt (4 MW). For plantations, drip irrigation has been used in the central median of the highway as well as for avenue plantation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the project ahead of the elections and now 21 more such expressways are planned across the country.
Apart from this, Gadkari has already laid down a plan to plant 125 crore trees along the existing national highways, equal to the total population of the nation, which is expected to benefit the environment greatly.
So far, ten states have already come on board and many large firms have shown a readiness to pitch in.
The Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), for instance, has adopted National Highway 31 and will be responsible for the plantation and maintenance of trees along the road other companies like Coal India Ltd have also shown a willingness to join the effort.