Govt seeks investment from Indian diaspora in road sector

Road Transport and Highways Minister CP Joshi today sought investments from Indian diaspora in the country's road sector, which is a key for inclusive growth.

"To my Pravasi brothers and sisters, my message today is simple-- Opportunities abound in the highway sector. In fact Pravasi capital has a safe and secure avenue for investment in this sector," Joshi said, adding India has comprehensive agreements to avoid double taxation with a large number of countries.

Addressing the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas conference attended by over 1,900 Indian diaspora, he said modern financial systems, sound banking network and a robust economy are compelling reasons to invest in "your mother country".

He said with a huge shelf of projects for award, developers require finance to take up these and the medium of public private partnership (PPP) is an ideal mode to channel investment into this sector.

The government has initiated measures to increase transparency in bidding process through introduction of Annual Pre-qualification and E-tendering in PPP projects, Joshi said.

"We have been overwhelmed by the response to each project bid out both in terms of number of bidders as well as the competitiveness of bids."

Joshi said the National Highway Authority of India received record premiums this year. Twenty projects out of 28 awarded upto November in the current fiscal fetched premium of about Rs2,146 crores.

Currently, there are over 100 consortiums engaged in execution of PPP projects, he said.