"Roads, Highways, Infrastructure!"

Sometime before the General Elections earlier this year, a news spoof programme interviewed a make-believe Narendra Modi about his economic model. The impersonator Modi would repeatedly point out: “Roads, Highways, Infrastructure!”, “Roads, Highways, Infrastructure!” The Government will spend over ₹60,000 crores on direct infrastructure investments, ports, special economic zones and subways. Road projects have received special attention. The FM has allocated a whopping ₹37,850 crore for roads that will see a target of 8,500 km of national highways built in the current financial year. 16 new port projects are targeted to come up this year that is likely to bring private investment of close to ₹80,000 crore. The market is optimistic about infrastructure turning around. The CNX Infrastructure Index has gained 40 per cent in the last six months, beating th