Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari on Thursday said that road transport and shipping sectors would contribute to the country's GDP growth in two years.
"The road transport and shipping sectors would contribute two percent and even more to GDP growth of the country in two years," said Gadkari while launching e-books of his ministry here on the completion of one year of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA Government.
"Moreover, these sectors would generate nearly 25 lakh new jobs in the coming year," he added.
Highlighting the achievements of his ministry in the last one year, Gadkari said the investors have agreed to work on PPP model for five projects.
He said a number of IT- based e-governance initiatives such as e-following, e-pay, overweight cargo (OWC) and over dimensional cargo (ODC) approvals have been introduced.
Gadkari further said a platform for infrastructure and materials providers, INAM-PRO, linking the suppliers to the road contractors and users has been commissioned.
He also expressed the hope that the 'Road Transport and Safety Bill 2014' would be passed in the next session of the Parliament.
The Transport Minister further said the Indian maritime sector is also poised to take a significant leap forward with new initiatives in ship-building, inland waterways, coastal shipping, capacity-addition and efficiency in port-operations.
He said the Bill declaring 101 rivers of the country as National Waterways (NWs), after passage in Parliament, will pave the way for development of these waterways for cargo and passenger transportation.
Gadkari informed that work on preparation of DPRs for 16 NWs and feasibility study of 40 NWs has already commenced.
He also mentioned about developing tourist centers at different islands in the country.
