Govt to open automobile clusters near ports

Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping, Nitin Gadkari has said that the government is planning to develop automobile clusters near port areas. He said that port-led development under the Sagarmala project is expected to attract Rs 12 lakh crore worth of investment. “The government has an investment of Rs 12 lakh crore planned for the Sagarmala project,” the minister said while delivering a keynote address at a ‘port infrastructure’ session of an annual convention being held in Mumbai. The Sagarmala project is a government initiative to modernise Indian ports. Gadkari also added that the rate of road construction is presently 22 km per day and the government’s target is to reach at least 40 km each day. The minister said that work on the Expressway between Baroda and Mumbai will begin by the end of the year. Juxtaposing the two, Gadkari said that the ministry has formed a Port-Rail Connectivity corporation.