Kamal Nath seeks US investment in Indian Highways sector

New York, Apr 9 (ANI) Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath has invited US construction and investment companies to participate in India's mega initiative to achieve a 'quantum jump' in the road sector.

Delivering the keynote address at the Global Construction Summit 2010 on "Investing in India's Infrastructure" at New York on Thursday, Nath told the large audience representing major construction and investment companies from all over the world about the essentially domestic demand-driven growth of India and said, "India's growth does not threaten, it beckons".

He also interacted in separate meetings with groups of CEOs and senior executives representing a mix of US finance, consultancy and investment companies as well as construction and equipment firms.

He informed the audience about the tremendous opportunities generated by the resurgence of the Indian economy.

He said, "The real potential of India's growth can be understood only if the median national age of 25 years and the prospective rise in disposable incomes of rural India are superimposed on the strong macro-fundamentals of the economy".

He said that the Infrastructure Deficit was the principal challenge that has to be overcome to unleash this potential and the Government was attaching the highest priority to this area.

Speaking of the gaps in the roads and highways network, he said, "We are not building roads for tomorrow, we are catching up with the past."

He pointed out that through roads, economic activity could be generated in remote rural areas and the Government of India had launched the largest rural roads programme fifteen years ago. (ANI)