Incorporation of Rail budget will help in multi-modal transport planning

Union Budget 2017-18 makes a provision of Rs2,41,381 crore for the transport sector as a whole, including rail, road and shipping. Minister of road transport and highways and shipping Nitin Gadkari has welcomed the thrust accorded by the budget to multi modal transport planning and synergizing investments in railways, roads, waterways and civil aviation.

Terming the budget as revolutionary, Gadkari said that development of multi-modal transport hubs would help ease traffic congestion to a large extent and also bring down pollution.

It is expected that an effective multi modal logistics and transport sector will make the economy more competitive. Work is already being done to develop a programme for building multi-modal logistics parks, together with multi modal transport facilities.

The budget allocation for highways has gone up from Rs57,976 crore in budget estimates for 2016-17 to Rs64,900 crore in 2017-18. 2,000 km of coastal connectivity roads have been identified for construction and development. This will facilitate better connectivity with ports and remote villages.

For the shipping ministry the allocation has gone up from Rs1,531 crore in budget estimates for 2016-17 to Rs1,773 crore. Rs600 crore have been allocated for Sagarmala programme.

Gadkari has also expressed hope that tax exemption on Masala Bonds will help mobilise more investments. He also lauded the top priority accorded by the budget to the growth of agriculture and rural sectors, and to the weeding out of corruption and black money.