The Centre on Tuesday exhorted the earthmoving and construction equipment industry to pitch in to help construct high-quality rural roads under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY) by using cost-effective locally available marginal materials.
“The earthmoving and construction equipment industry should focus on construction of quality roads and use locally available materials to cut down time and expenditure cost. The firms should also come forward to provide jobs to the rural youths by roping them in their activities,” Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Kushwaha said.
He was speaking at an event ‘national conference on rural roads’ jointly organised by Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (ICEMA) in collaboration with the Rural Development Ministry. The Minister also suggested the ICEMA to start an institute to train the rural youth about the earth moving equipments being used for road constructions that would ensure them not only jobs but would also cut down the labour cost.
With high investments expected to pour in this sector over next few years, the industry is hoping that spending on ECE for road projects is also likely to get boost. Amit Gossain, President, ICEMA noted that road construction is one of the most intensive sectors of the earthmoving construction equipments which accounts up to 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the total project cost.
“The 12th Five Year Plan proposes spending Rs 105,000 crores on rural roads, which is on par with the total sanctioned amount for PMGSY since inception. The investment is expected to result in the construction of 1,62,000 km of new roads and upgradation of 78,000 km of existing roads in rural areas. The 12th FYP targets about 33 per cent of the investment to be fulfilled by the private sector,” he said while asking the industry to explore the opportunities.
K Pateria, Director (technical) National Rural Road Development Agency (NRDDA) lamented that the progress under the PMGSY was not as per expectation because of poor quality of assets being created. He said it was high time that the State Government focus on use of locally available marginal material, industrial waste and low cost surfacing and environment friendly new technologies such as cold mix technology.