New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will lay the foundation stone for 25 National Highway projects of a total length of 257 km in Jammu on Wednesday. 


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These projects with an investment of Rs 11,721 crores will provide all-weather connectivity between Jammu and Kashmir valley, according to an official statement released by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. 


The ministry said that "these are strategically important for swift movement of defence forces along with agricultural, industrial and socio-economic progress of the region," adding that the projects will connect all major roads leading to various district headquarters and will help in the generation of employment and self-employment opportunities.


"The projects will involve Rehabilitation and upgradation of some sections, construction of Viaduct and tunnel and Rectification of black spots," it further said. 


Gadkari's big promise on auto sector 


Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that the Centre`s mission is to increase the turnover of the automobile industry to Rs 15 lakh crore within the next five years. 


"The current turnover of the automobile sector of the country is Rs 7.5 lakh crore, out of which Rs 3 crore is export. My aim is to make the auto industry to the volume of Rs 15 lakh crore within the next five year, " Gadkari said as he inaugurated Maruti Suzuki and Toyota Tsusho Group`s government-approved scrapping in Greater Noida.


Nitin Gadkari said, "Our current import of fossil fuel is currently Rs 8 lakh crores and it will reach Rs 25 lakh crores in the next five years. We are working constantly on the diversification of agriculture towards energy and power sectors. Flex engines are being used in US, Brazil and Canada, where they use 100 per cent petrol or 100 per cent ethanol."


"Bioethanol is a fuel that comes from sugarcane and molasses. The government has given permission to make bioethanol from rice, corn and foodgrains. The government has taken the decision to open ethanol pumps just like petrol pumps. It is a win-win situation for all stakeholders. It can help in tackling pollution and it is also good for the tribal, agricultural areas of the country," he added. 


He termed the launching of the scrapping unit and the vehicle scrapping policy as `historic`. "The vehicle scrapping policy is extremely important for our ecology and economy. It will reduce pollution generated by old vehicles. Through scraping, raw materials like aluminium, steel, copper etc will be available at lower costs which will also reduce the production cost of the vehicle. Raw material costs can be reduced by at least 33 per cent. It will reduce our dependence on imports as we still import materials like aluminium, copper and many other things. The industry`s issue of shortage of semi-conductors will be resolved by this policy," he said. 


He said that the policy will help in converting `waste` into `wealth`, adding that the vehicle scrapping policy will generate at least 2 lakh jobs directly and will boost the sales of automobiles. 


(With Agency Inputs)


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