Mumbai: Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Nitin Gadkari today said that political support was a vital pillar to provide the required support for the execution of 'Make in India' projects, saying the bureaucracy could not be solely blamed for delay in awarding projects.
Gadkari, who has otherwise been rather critical of the role of bureaucrats in causing delays in approval for large projects, said, "I agree the system (bureaucracy) is to be blamed for delaying approval processes, and at various fora, even I have talked about it. But I strongly feel that one cannot blame the system every time. Political support will also play a crucial role in this."
He was addressing a seminar on roads and highways in Mumbai at the ongoing Make in India Week.
Gadkari said every time attempts are made to adopt new technologies or methods to ensure speedy execution of projects, there is criticism or lack of support from various strata of society.
"In such a situation, even bureaucrats are unwilling to adopt new methods and prefer sticking to the old tried-and-tested for taking up projects, fearing criticism and opposition...," he said.
"Political support will play a major role in this. If they do not support such innovations, even the system cannot function efficiently, which leads to delays in execution," Gadkari added, pointing to the need for creating an environment conducive for the adoption of new technologies and initiatives that the Modi government intends to introduce.
He also urged the private sector to participate in the government's vision to strengthen the road sector.
"To encourage private participation in the road sector, we have taken various initiatives and one of them is hybrid annuity model, wherein the government would contribute nearly 40 per cent of the project cost. If we get good response from the private sector for this model, we may award projects on PPP basis in the next one year," Gadkari added.
He said there was a need to adopt techniques to reduce cost of construction, and the private sector can help by bringing in new technology.
(With PTI inputs)
