One of the greatest challenges India faces is closing its infrastructure gap. In Friday afternoon’s keynote address, Mr. Kamal Nath, India’s Minister for Road Transport and Highways, outlined India’s plans for overcoming this challenge. India has set an ambitious short term goal: to construct 20 kilometers of road per day for the next 3 years. That will work out to approximately 20,000 kilometers, at an estimated cost of US$50bn.
The infrastructure deficit is the biggest challenge to managing India’s growth. India has the second-largest network of roads in the world- 3.4 million kilometres, second only to the United States and ahead of China. But many are in poor condition, and this impacts agriculture, industry and trade. For example, India is the second-largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, but 40% of fruits and vegetables rot because of bad infrastructure.
Mr. Nath is optimistic the government is on track to meet the goal of 20 kilometers per day, and added that India is also focused on developing public transportation.