National Highways network will be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, while presenting the Union Budget 2022-23, on Tuesday informed the Parliament that the National Highways network will be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23.

"PM Gati Shakti Master Plan for Expressways will be formulated in 2022-23 to facilitate faster movement of people and goods. The National Highways network will be expanded by 25,000 km in 2022-23. Rs 20,000 crore will be mobilized through innovative ways of financing to complement the public resources," she said.

Further, Sitharaman said the data exchange among all mode operators will be brought on Unified Logistics Interface Platform (ULIP), designed for Application Programming Interface (API).

"This will provide for efficient movement of goods through different modes, reducing logistics cost and time, assisting just-in-time inventory management, and in eliminating tedious documentation. Most importantly, this will provide real-time information to all stakeholders, and improve international competitiveness," she said.

"Open-source mobility stack, for organizing seamless travel of passengers will also be facilitated," she added.

The Finance Minister also informed that contracts for the implementation of Multimodal Logistics Parks at four locations through PPP mode will be awarded in 2022-23.

Sitharaman said with technical support from the Capacity Building Commission, central ministries, state governments, and their infra-agencies will have their skills upgraded.

"This will ramp up capacity in planning, design, financing (including innovative ways), and implementation management of the PM Gati Shakti infrastructure projects," she said.

For 2022-23, the Finance Minister has proposed an allocation of Rs 1 lakh crore to assist the states in catalysing overall investments in the economy. These fifty-year interest-free loans are over and above the normal borrowings allowed to the states.

( With inputs from ANI )

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