National Highways to have new numbers: Kamal Nath

September 17th, 2009 ZURICH - Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath on Thursday said that in the next two years India will build more highways than any other country in the world. Inaugurating "Building India: Road Infrastructure Summit" at Zurich, he also invited European investors to invest in the road and highways sector in India, and said that India as a nation is determined to build a comprehensive high quality infrastructure.

September 12th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath has sought World Bank's partnership for the development of highways in the country. The Minister met the World Bank President, Robert Zoellick at Washington DC on Friday and sensitized him about the critical role that National Highways and roads play in promoting inclusive growth in India.

August 18th, 2009 LONDON - Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath brings his 'roadshow' to Britain Sep 1 to attract British investment into India, which he says will build more roads than any other country over the next two years. Kamal Nath will spend two days in London Sep 1-2 talking to business leaders, bankers and investors, telling them there is money to be made investing in India's roads in the current financial climate.

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 22nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Funding will not be a problem as India gets ready to execute over 150 projects worth some $70 billion to spruce up its network of highways and roads in the next three years, said Road, Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath here Wednesday. The minister, who is personally overseeing all road shows to attract money for one of the country's largest public-private initiatives on roads and highways, said speedy development of this infrastructure was a priority for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government.

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 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 - The road transport and highways ministry may have drawn up an ambitious plan to build 20 km of roads per day, but according to the country's highways authority, this is not possible this year. "The plan of building 20 km per day is ambitious and we are trying our best, but this year we will not be able to achieve the target," said Brijeshwar Singh, chairman of National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), on the sidelines of a business meet here.

July 4th, 2009 LONDON - British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson says former commerce and industry minister Kamal Nath was a great negotiator but wouldn't budge on opening up the Indian market. In his first public comments since the formation of the new Indian government in May, Mandelson said Friday that negotiating with major economies such as India in world trade talks was one of his main mandates as the European Union's Trade Commissioner.

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 28th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The decision to shift Kamal Nath out of the commerce ministry to be given charge of the road transport and highways portfolio was Thursday seen by India Inc as the most unexpected development in the allocation of portfolios by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Kamal Nath, who was the voice of India at multilateral trade talks and often criticised by rich nations for being over-protective of developing countries, was replaced by Anand Sharma, who was earlier minister of state for information and broadcasting.

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 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Interest rates for the Indian corporate sector were still 'very high' and must be reduced, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. 'This is under the domain of the RBI (Reserve Bank of India) but my own view is that interest rates are very high and the interest rate should be reduced,' Kamal Nath told reporters ahead of the interim budget Feb 16.

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.