Nitin Gadkari announces - Government to approach capital market next month to raise funds for 4 road projects

Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said the government will approach the capital market next month to raise funds for four road projects.

The money will be raised through Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), and there will be an investment limit of Rs 10 lakh for retail investors, he added.

"We will be approaching the capital market to raise funds for the four road projects... There will be an assured return of 7-8 per cent," Gadkari said while addressing a Ficci event.

Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) are instruments on the pattern of mutual funds, designed to pool money from investors and invest in assets that will provide cash flows over a period of time.

Gadkari said the road ministry will also be opening up projects under the build operate transfer (BOT) model once again.

The minister said he has set a target to take the national highway network length to 2 lakh km by 2024

The total length of national highways (NHs) in the country has increased from about 91,287 km in April 2014 to about 1,40,937 km at the end of November 2021.

Gadkari reiterated his aim of replacing the use of petrol and diesel with alternative fuels.