The world’s largest lockdown is expected to have a significant impact on India. Affecting over 1.33 billion people, among other things, the shutdown will set the clock on India’s humongous infrastructure sector back by several weeks if not months.

The construction industry employs 35 million people, which is more than the population of Australia or Malaysia, and contributes 8 per cent of India’s GDP.

In an interaction with INFRASTRUCTURE TODAY, Devendra Kumar Sharma, Business Unit Head, Roads, Bridges & Ports, Tata Projects Ltd, highlights the things that would help achieve the government's ambitious road capacity addition target.

India is blessed with an over 7,500 km long coastline. From the time of the Indus-Saraswati River Valley Civilisation to the early medieval period, the country was renowned for its intrepid sailors.

Just as 2019 drew to a close, the Central Government unveiled the Rs 102-trillion National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) to boost annual investment in the sector.

Multimode transport is yet to be a reality in India. There are no dedicated corridors that connect ports with Indian rail or inland waterways.

To achieve the GDP of $5 trillion by 2024-25, India needs to spend about Rs 140 trillion on infrastructure over the next five years.

PTC India Financial services (PFS) has received sanction of fresh long-term loan of Rs 5 billion for a period of ten years at an interest rate of 8.50 per cent per annum for onward lending to infrastructure projects and other operational requirements.

The progress on projects such as Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs), high-speed rail and redevelopment of railway stations is likely to mark a paradigm shift in the country's railways sector.