Union road transport and highway minister Nitin Gadkari, who is known for promoting innovative ideas in transportation, created a stir a few months ago when he pitched for electric vehicles by 2030. In an interview with Megha Manchanda and Jyoti Mukul, Gadkari does not rue his ministry's losing control over the Central Road Fund and says electric vehicles will drive the growth of the auto industry. Edited Excerpts.
The Central Road Fund has now become Central Road and Infrastructure fund whose allocation has now spread to more sectors. How will you ensure that road sector is sufficiently funded?
The revenue collected in the fund will be distributed to the respective sectors. In the previous National Democratic Alliance government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when I was a minister in the Maharashtra government, I had approached the Centre for building some roads in the state. At that time the question of funding those projects was raised and then it was decided the Centre would levy a cess on petrol and diesel and the revenue collected would be given to the Road Ministry and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for their projects. Later, the Railways and states were added to the list of beneficiaries from the levy and each sector was earmarked a share from the cess kitty. We also wanted to include inland waterways in that list and proposed amendments to the National Waterways Act. The proposal has been approved by the Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha.
Now, a committee under the finance minister will decide the allocation from the CRIF. We hope we will continue to get funds for the projects on which work has already begun.
The FM had also announced an SPV (special purpose vehicle) for NHAI's road assets. How will this be structured?
We have 105 highway contracts that can be monetised to raise Rs 1,250 billion. The funds collected via monetisation will be kept in an SPV, to be utilised for NHAI projects.
How effectively have you been able to increase the pace of road construction? What is your target for next year?
We will achieve 28 km per day by March-end. We want to get to 40 km per day target next year and should be able to achieve it. We want to have 200,000 km of national highways.
Is land acquisition still a challenge?
There are some people who convert challenges into opportunities. We have already acquired land worth Rs 680 billion and are paying farmers well, so there is no problem in land acquisition.
The road ministry had sought extra budgetary support of Rs 250 billion for promotion of transportation and transport technology and for providing last-mile connectivity by improving public transport. However, that has found no mention in Union Budget 2018-19...
A part of the Rs 710 billion allocated to us under budgetary support will be used to towards modernise transport and transportation services. We are looking at building bus ports on the lines of airports. Most major cities in the country have bus ports. By utilising commercial land, we can develop air-conditioned bus ports with other amenities, such as hotels, parking spaces etc.
These projects could either be built on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) or PPP (public-private-partnership) depending on their viability.
Do you think electric vehicles should be made mandatory?
If the commuting cost for the public comes down then I do not need to market the idea. In India, automobile manufacturing is a big business with huge exports. We don't want petrol and diesel vehicle manufacturing to stop. At the same time, if we bring in new technology, we get sustainable transportation and our exports will further increase.
Pollution free, import substitute, cost-effectiveness and indigenous production is our philosophy.
How do you bring the cost of EVs down?
An electric bus costs Rs 10 million. When we got solar energy, it cost us around Rs 16.5 a unit and now it is Rs 2.55. When volume increases, cost will come down.
What is the status on introducing electric buses for public transport?
We want electric buses, and ethanol-, bio-diesel- and methanol-driven buses to ply in the country. It would help address the problem of air pollution affecting major cities. It also facilitates conversion of waste into wealth. For this, we want to adopt the 'Transport for London' model, which is a revolutionary idea. Nine operators in London and the corporation bring out a tender on the basis of a per-kilometre charge. The conductor belongs to the corporation or the state while the driver belongs to the operator. Both have the same dress code. Investments will be made by the operators.
In Nagpur, the cost of running one bus on 100 per cent ethanol is Rs 79 per kilometre and the one running on electricity costs Rs 50 per kilometre. We can bring down the tariff through this. The idea is to provide better public transportation services to discourage people from using personal vehicles.
What is the progress on new age transport options such as Metrino and Hyperloop? Experts believe that travelling by air is cheaper than using the Hyperloop...
As far as unconventional mode of transportation is concerned, the Metrino or pod taxi project from Dhaula Kuan in New Delhi to Manesar in Haryana will soon take off. The tender is out and we are awaiting offers from prospective bidders. We hope the companies will invest in these projects. The road ministry would provide the Right of Way for the project.
As far as the Hyperloop is concerned, we are big country and therefore public transportation through various means should be researched and adopted through technological innovation.
We are also working on water transportation projects which are not just financially viable but are also environment-friendly.
We should be ready with our first waterway --Varanasi to Haldia-- by December 2018. We are exploring the possibility of starting a public transport from Allahabad to Varanasi.
The Central Road Fund has now become Central Road and Infrastructure fund whose allocation has now spread to more sectors. How will you ensure that road sector is sufficiently funded?
The revenue collected in the fund will be distributed to the respective sectors. In the previous National Democratic Alliance government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, when I was a minister in the Maharashtra government, I had approached the Centre for building some roads in the state. At that time the question of funding those projects was raised and then it was decided the Centre would levy a cess on petrol and diesel and the revenue collected would be given to the Road Ministry and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for their projects. Later, the Railways and states were added to the list of beneficiaries from the levy and each sector was earmarked a share from the cess kitty. We also wanted to include inland waterways in that list and proposed amendments to the National Waterways Act. The proposal has been approved by the Lok Sabha and is pending in the Rajya Sabha.
Now, a committee under the finance minister will decide the allocation from the CRIF. We hope we will continue to get funds for the projects on which work has already begun.
The FM had also announced an SPV (special purpose vehicle) for NHAI's road assets. How will this be structured?
We have 105 highway contracts that can be monetised to raise Rs 1,250 billion. The funds collected via monetisation will be kept in an SPV, to be utilised for NHAI projects.
How effectively have you been able to increase the pace of road construction? What is your target for next year?
We will achieve 28 km per day by March-end. We want to get to 40 km per day target next year and should be able to achieve it. We want to have 200,000 km of national highways.
Is land acquisition still a challenge?
There are some people who convert challenges into opportunities. We have already acquired land worth Rs 680 billion and are paying farmers well, so there is no problem in land acquisition.
The road ministry had sought extra budgetary support of Rs 250 billion for promotion of transportation and transport technology and for providing last-mile connectivity by improving public transport. However, that has found no mention in Union Budget 2018-19...
A part of the Rs 710 billion allocated to us under budgetary support will be used to towards modernise transport and transportation services. We are looking at building bus ports on the lines of airports. Most major cities in the country have bus ports. By utilising commercial land, we can develop air-conditioned bus ports with other amenities, such as hotels, parking spaces etc.
These projects could either be built on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) or PPP (public-private-partnership) depending on their viability.
Do you think electric vehicles should be made mandatory?
If the commuting cost for the public comes down then I do not need to market the idea. In India, automobile manufacturing is a big business with huge exports. We don't want petrol and diesel vehicle manufacturing to stop. At the same time, if we bring in new technology, we get sustainable transportation and our exports will further increase.
Pollution free, import substitute, cost-effectiveness and indigenous production is our philosophy.
How do you bring the cost of EVs down?
An electric bus costs Rs 10 million. When we got solar energy, it cost us around Rs 16.5 a unit and now it is Rs 2.55. When volume increases, cost will come down.
What is the status on introducing electric buses for public transport?
We want electric buses, and ethanol-, bio-diesel- and methanol-driven buses to ply in the country. It would help address the problem of air pollution affecting major cities. It also facilitates conversion of waste into wealth. For this, we want to adopt the 'Transport for London' model, which is a revolutionary idea. Nine operators in London and the corporation bring out a tender on the basis of a per-kilometre charge. The conductor belongs to the corporation or the state while the driver belongs to the operator. Both have the same dress code. Investments will be made by the operators.
In Nagpur, the cost of running one bus on 100 per cent ethanol is Rs 79 per kilometre and the one running on electricity costs Rs 50 per kilometre. We can bring down the tariff through this. The idea is to provide better public transportation services to discourage people from using personal vehicles.
What is the progress on new age transport options such as Metrino and Hyperloop? Experts believe that travelling by air is cheaper than using the Hyperloop...
As far as unconventional mode of transportation is concerned, the Metrino or pod taxi project from Dhaula Kuan in New Delhi to Manesar in Haryana will soon take off. The tender is out and we are awaiting offers from prospective bidders. We hope the companies will invest in these projects. The road ministry would provide the Right of Way for the project.
As far as the Hyperloop is concerned, we are big country and therefore public transportation through various means should be researched and adopted through technological innovation.
We are also working on water transportation projects which are not just financially viable but are also environment-friendly.
We should be ready with our first waterway --Varanasi to Haldia-- by December 2018. We are exploring the possibility of starting a public transport from Allahabad to Varanasi.
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