Infra key to halt global slowdown, says Jaitley

BEIJING: Infrastructure development is key to halt the global economic slowdown, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday. He also made a strong case for global

BEIJING: Infrastructure development is key to halt the global economic slowdown, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Sunday. He also made a strong case for global investments in India to fill the huge infrastructure gap, which requires over $1.5 trillion in the next 10 years.

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“We have been able to sustain growth in the face of global slowdown, essentially on the strength of the infrastructure creation in India, where the gap is huge,” said Jaitley, who is in China to attend the Board of Governors of the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank.

“Over the next decade, we require over $1.5 trillion in India alone to fill up the infrastructure gap. We also use the additional resource, which is available with us as a result of falling prices because that regime helps us,” he said, adding that the government intends to connect 700,000 villages with roads by 2019 as part of a massive modernisation plan.

The finance minister also underlined infrastructure development as key to halt the global economic slowdown. “Infrastructure is where inequalities exist and the requirement of a large number of economies world over is to fill up this infrastructure gap.”