Funding no issue for $70-bn highway projects: Kamal Nath

September 1st, 2009 LONDON - National highways in India will be renumbered so that they reflect a scientific pattern, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. Today is the 100th day of my government in India, so I can announce it: we are renumbering our national highways, Kamal Nath told reporters.

August 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath said on Friday that the country has enough foodgrain reserves even in the worst monsoon situation. Nath, however, expressed his concern over the adverse impact of poor monsoon on agricultural activity.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government will spend Rs.1 lakh crore (Rs.1,000 billion/$21 billion) this fiscal and an equal amount in subsequent years with a target of building 20 km of road every day, Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Kamal Nath said Thursday. "This year we will build more road kilometres than what was done between 1999-2004.

July 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath on Thursday said that roads would play an important role in infrastructure development in the next decade. During a seminar at Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI), Kamal Nath said that roads are important as they provide domestic economic stimulus.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Acquisition of land remains the biggest challenge in road projects development, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. "When I look at the challenges ahead I feel that today land acquisition remains the biggest challenge for road construction," Kamal Nath said while addressing a conclave on highways development.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Road Transport Minister Kamal Nath on Tuesday said that the Cente has plans to set up an organization to develop and manage expressways in the country. "We are looking at setting up an Expressway Authority in the same line with NHAI (National Highway Authority of India) but distinct with the specifics with only building expressways.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A separate authority will be constituted soon for expediting development of expressways, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. I am examining the possibility of setting up an expressway authority, Kamal Nath said at a conclave on national highways.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Transport Minister Kamal Nath said on Tuesday that the government wants foreign investors to fund as much as half of the 20 billion dollars, which it has earmarked for road building in a year. Kamal Nath said he has plans to meet with investors from Europe, the United States and Asia, including Hong Kong and Singapore, in the next two or three months to discuss which financing platforms would be most effective.

May 29th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath Friday said regulations covering India's road network will be overhauled even as he promised to change the physical landscape of the country's transport infrastructure in due time. "We need to look at the old regulatory framework in an entirely new way and that will call for a complete change of mindset.

May 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Congress leader Kamal Nath unwittingly injected humour into the sombre swearing-in ceremony of the new government Friday when he began to take his oath before President Pratibha Patil could prompt him, and then started walking off without signing the register. Perhaps a little too eager to be sworn in as minister, Kamal Nath walked up and said in Hindi 'Main Kamal Nath' much to the amusement of the gathering at the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

February 11th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The government has rationalised the foreign investment norms as there is a tightening in the global markets, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Thursday. 'Government has rationalised calculation of FDI (foreign direct investment).

February 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India will clock a growth of over 7 percent this fiscal, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. Referring to the general belief that the economic growth would slow down considerably, Kamal Nath said at an awards function organised by the Export Promotion Council: 'The gross domestic product (GDP) will grow by over 7 percent.' Incidentally, India's central bank itself has revised downwards its growth forecast to 7 percent from 7.5-8 percent predicted earlier.

January 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A 'disciplined' private sector and an 'aspiring' middle class are the engines of India's economic growth, and will help the country weather the tumultuous times, Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath said Saturday. 'India's aspiring middle class has demonstrated surprising resilience in counterbalancing the global credit crisis and slump in the global export economy of which India is a key player,' the minister said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

January 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Maintaining that India will grow by at least 7 percent this fiscal, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath Monday said the government was considering another stimulus package to pump prime the economy. Addressing the 'Partnership Summit 2009' of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) here, the minister said the falling inflation rate, now at a little over 5 percent, would help unveil another package.

January 4th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat will meet union Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath next week in Delhi to reiterate his government's opposition to the special economic zone (SEZ) projects allotted for the state, a Congress MP said Monday. 'The chief minister will lead a delegation of Congress MLAs and MPs to Delhi next week in this regard,' Rajya Sabha MP Shantaram Naik told reporters.