Soon after taking charge, transport minister Kamal Nath had made it mandatory for the states to sign the State Support Agreement under which the states would have to acquire land for highway construction to get central funds.
A plan for projects to be awarded in the year 2010-11 is to be launched soon.
The 28 new ministers who joined the Chouhan cabinet on July 2 include 20 of cabinet rank and eight ministers of state.
Kamal Nath is in New York attending several meetings, including McGraw-Hill Construction, which is one of the largest construction industry events.
Congress reached out to Samajwadi Party Supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav for his support for passage of the Food Security Bill which is expected to be introduced in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday coinciding with the birth anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
The minister said there is a need to ramp up road construction 10-fold to achieve the development targets set for the next decade.
Nath told the Malaysia Indian Economic Conference that Malaysia's proven expertise and track record in infrastructure provided a large window of opportunity for Malaysian companies to invest in India in the infrastructure development projects.
To centralise process by setting up special units in each state.
In an interview with Mihir Mishra and Jyoti Mukul, Nath, who as the commerce and industry minister in the previous United Progressive Alliance government was part of the fire-fighting to minimise impact of the slowdown, says that the current year will be better than the last year.
The government expects to collect Rs 1,495 crore (Rs 14.95 billion) as toll tax from highways during the current fiscal, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Wednesday.
Last month, Industry Minister Tony Clement became the fourth Canadian federal minister to visit India this year. His main mission was, he told Rediff India Abroad's Ajit Jain in an exclusive interview, to "encourage foreign direct investment by Indian entrepreneurs and companies into Canada" and also to woo Indian tourists to Canada.
The Indian economy has emerged almost unscathed from the global economic crisis that has ravaged many nations, said Union Minister of Surface Transport Kamal Nath on Tuesday.
With the economy slowing and an impending general election, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday announced 26 measures to promote exports, mostly simplifying foreign trade schemes, even as he lowered the export target for 2008-09 to $175 billion against the $200 billion announced in April 2008.
'It is mind-boggling that a party can be in rigor mortis even after numerous electoral defeats,' observes Ramesh Menon.
Over 2,500 global leaders in business and politics arrived in this Swiss resort on Wednesday to put their minds together on how best to support the fragile recovery following the worst economic crisis since the 1930s.
Transport Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said the government may look at using cement for constructing over 18,000 km of expressways in the country.
Already two stimulus packages have been rolled out by the Centre to neutralise the impact of the global financial meltdown on the country and the Reserve Bank of India, through a series of monetary steps, released about Rs 3,20,000 crore (Rs 3,200 billion) in the system. Nath said that India is likely to receive foreign direct investment of about $30 billion during 2008-09. The government had set a FDI target of $35 billion for the fiscal.
The government's help to the crisis-ridden Satyam Computer Services may include financial support as well, as it is a question of saving jobs and institutional investment, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said.
Minister for Commerce and Industry Kamal Nath, who arrived in Washington had critical bilateral discussions with senior administration and Congressional leaders on issues related to WTO and bilateral issues.
The government is banking on the private sector for the bulk of the $60 billion investment needed for its ambitious five-year programme to fill the 'road deficit', Highways Minister Kamal Nath said on Thursday.
Besides projects under the NHAI, the government earmarks funds for constructing roads, undertaken by various state government agencies and municipal corporations. Nath will be seeking Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) for this.
The meeting has been convened to conclude modalities in the Doha Development Agenda for Agriculture and Market Access for Industrial Goods. Lamy had called on Nath to inform him about the meeting and press the commerce minister to attend the meeting at any cost.
Industry leaders and policymakers pin their faith on a multi-faceted approach that includes education and vocational training. Achieving inclusive growth is India's biggest challenge and the best way to achieve it is through developing peoples' skills, said Commerce Minister Kamal Nath. The biggest concern was bringing the 600 million rural people living in rural India into the mainstream, he added.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today reviewed measures taken by the government to ease the liquidity crunch faced by India Inc arising out of the global financial crisis as well as discussed possible measures to help Indian exporters tide over the downturn in key markets like the US and Europe.
Senior cabinet minister Kamal Nath on Monday said 'new things would be thrown up' as the government fine-tunes the foreign direct investment policy. India attracted about $25 billion for April-February 2008-09. The government had announced changes in the FDI policy in February which led to confusion among investors.
Creating domestic demand through investment in sectors like construction and mass housing can get the economy back on a high growth path, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said on Monday.
To attract foreign investors to bid for road projects in the country, road transport and highways minister Kamal Nath said on Sunday the government would award the first mega highways project in two months.
Having now privatized infrastructure in India, we are looking at the second decade of the 21st century as the decade of infrastructure. Infrastructure is now the buzzword in India, says Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport.
The government is seeking private investment in agricultural sector to remove infrastructure bottlenecks by developing cold chains, warehousing and transport facilities.
The fDi Personality of the Year awards recognise the political and business leaders around the world who have been the most proactive, dynamic and innovative in securing foreign investment and improving the business environments of their jurisdictions.
India has asked Indonesia to remove barriers on import of pharma products, in a bid to boost trade ties between the two countries.
External affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who also holds charge of the finance portfolio, minister of state for industry Ashwani Kumar and several secretaries of the key economic ministries have already indicated the government may unveil significant fiscal measures to stimulate the economy reeling under the global slowdown.
Allaying apprehensions of a food crisis in view of poor monsoon, minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath said on Friday the country has enough foodgrain reserves to tackle even the worst monsoon situation.
The meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was attended by Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Industry leaders, including Ratan Tata, Rahul Bajaj, Mukesh Ambani and Sunil Bharti Mittal, who are members of the council, also participated in the discussions.
For achieving $30 billion, the country would need over $11 billion FDI in the last five months of the fiscal in the midst of a global credit freeze. Riding on the back of impressive inflows of $25 billion in 2007-08, the government had aimed at $35 billion FDI for the current fiscal.
The government planned to build 12,000 kilometres of roads, including highways, at an estimated cost of Rs 1,00,000 crore (Rs 1 trillion) in the current financial year, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said.
"Land acquisition is the biggest issue. Now contracts will be awarded if 80 per cent of the land is acquired and is in possession of National Highway Authority of India," minister for road transport and highways Kamal Nath said during the Question Hour in the Lok Sabha. On members' complaints regarding 'very high' toll rates in public-private partnership projects, the minister defended the existing rates and said reduced toll would mean less roads.
The ministry is seeking a $2.96-billion World Bank funding for double-laning of 6,300 km of single-lane highways, out of a total of about 19,000 km single-lane highways in the country.
Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath conveyed India's resentment to Finnish Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paavo Vayrynen. He will also be taking up the issue with the Netherland's Minister for Economic Affairs M Vander Hoeven in New Delhi on Wednesday. The two sides have managed to keep these issues out of the proposed FTA despite pressure from some EU members like France, government officials said.
The meltdown impact was clearly visible in October, when exports declined by 15 per cent. The government has set a target of $200 billion in the backdrop of $162 billion in 2007 08. However, several agencies like global consultancy firm Dun and Bradstreet have expressed doubts whether the growth momentum could be sustained.
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