By Amit Sarwal and Pallavi Jain
India’s Union Road Transport and Highway Minister Nitin Gadkari interacted with Australian industry delegates and invited them to invest in India’s growing infrastructure sector.
Mr Gadkari also had an interaction with Australian senator Jenny McAllister who is the assistant minister for climate change and energy.
Mr Gadkari and Ms McAllister discussed the opportunities to deepen the bilateral investment ties between India and Australia, especially in the field of net zero emission, transportation, and related infrastructure development.
Mr Gadkari had an interactive discussion with Frank Kwok, Asia Pacific Head, Macquarie Asset Management, and his team.
The Indian Minister who is on a three-day official visit to Australia also conveyed his best wishes to the Indian Diaspora on the occasion of Diwali celebrations at New South Wales Parliament (NSW) organised by the Hindu Council of Australia.
The event was attended by the Premier of New South Wales, Dominic Perrottet, NSW Multicultural Minister, Mark Coure, and Council General of India in Sydney, Manish Gupta among others.
WATCH VIDEO: The Australia Today reporting Live from NSW Parliament
Minister Gadkari also attend a business round table and Diwali dinner organised by the Australia India Business Council (AIBC) in Sydney where he highlighted Australia – India ties and why Australian companies should invest in India’s infrastructure projects.
WATCH VIDEO: Indian Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at AIBC business round table hosted by National Chair Jodi McKay and NSW President Irfan Malik
8% return per year on investment in the road sector
Speaking at the AIBC business round table, Mr Gadkari said that he is offering investors who will invest in the road sector in India an 8% return per year. He added that India is the fastest-growing economy and Prime Minister Modi has given the highest priority to infrastructure development in India.
Mr Gadkari mentioned that India is constructing 40kms of roads every day and that several highways are being constructed across the country that will cut travelling time for commuters, including the 1300km Delhi to Mumbai Highway, which will cut travelling time by road to 12 hours between the two cities.
The Minister on a sombre note however said that road safety was a dark area and remains a crucial challenge. He mentioned that India has 500,000 accidents and 150,000 deaths every year causing a loss of 3% to the GDP due to road accidents.
He also spoke about the development of ports in India as a sector with huge opportunities and about the use of bio-ethanol as bio-fuel, the use of hydrogen to run vehicles and the manufacturing of electric cars indicating the Indian Government’s environmental considerations.