FM gives push to infrastructure in Budget’19

With the aim to boost infrastructure, Finance Minister, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, laid out a string of measures in Union Budget’19. She announced plans to restructure the National Highways Programme & utilise rivers for cargo transporation. She also asserted that the cargo movement across the river Ganga is expected to increase by four times in four years. “The Government has given a massive push to all forms of physical connectivity through Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, industrial corridors, dedicated freight corridors, Bhartamala and Sagarmala projects, Jal Marg Vikas and UDAN Schemes. While the industrial corridors would improve infrastructure availability for greater industrial investment in the catchment regions, the dedicated freight corridors would mitigate the congestion of our railway network benefitting the common man. The ambitious programme of Bharatmala would help develop national road corridors and highways, while Sagarmala would enhance port connectivity, modernisation and port-linked industrialization”, the Minister said. These initiatives will improve logistics tremendously, reduce transportation costs and escalate competitiveness of domestically produced goods.