The rate of road construction will move beyond 40 km per day by March this year as compared to 28 km per day last year, said union minister for transport Nitin Gadkari on Thursday.

Speaking at CNBC-TV18's India Business Leader Awards (IBLA), Gadkari said that the ministry is giving priority for development of express highways, waterways and building innovative transport systems.

"Waterways are one of the success stories, started work in 10 waterways. We have 7,500 km of seafront available with us, 12 major ports, 200 minor and private ports. Our government has taken a decision to convert 111 rivers into waterways so that length has come to 20,000 km" Gadkari said.

Talking about multi-modal connectivity, the minister said that work on three multi-modal hubs of Sahibganj, Haldia and Ghazipur will be completed in the next six months, while the one at Varanasi has already become fully operational.

On the basis of development in waterways, the ministry is expecting goods traffic of 80 lakh tonne on Ganga this year and about 280 lakh tonne of traffic over the next two years, Gadkari said, adding that this will be a great opportunity for Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as logistics cost will reduce.

On ports and shipping, Gadkari said that he is already planning innovative transport systems such as an airboat service from Varanasi to Allahabad ahead of Kumbh.

"Waterway, ports are in good profit. Profit in JNPT (Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust) is more than Rs 1,600 crore this year. We are bidding for private ports in National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Now planning for development of six major ports, in shipping efficiency and business have increased and reaching international standards," Gadkari said.

Reducing travel time between Delhi and Mumbai, Gadkari said that the expressway between the two metros will be completed in 2.5 years and next week tender will be floated for Delhi-Gurugram-Jaipur and already 44,000-crore worth work have been awarded.

Gadkari also said that he is ready to aid in a bullet train between Delhi and Mumbai to reduce the travel time even further.

"I have offered Piyushji (railway minister Piyush Goyal), ready to offer land for bullet train between Delhi and Mumbai in three months," Gadkari said.

First Published:Jan 17, 2019 11:02 PM IST