Mumbai: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari spoke at a National Conference in Mumbai on Friday to address investment in the infrastructure sector, saying that Infrastructure investments will undoubtedly yield excellent returns.

Delivering a speech at the National Conference, he said ‘I once rejected a tender from Reliance for the Mumbai-Pune Expressway in 1995," Gadkari stated today in Mumbai at a conference on "Investment Opportunities in Highways, Transport, and Logistics."Everyone, even Balasaheb Thackeray, was upset with me. The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDC) was established after that." The minister used the MSRDC project as an example, claiming that it was built for nearly half the cost.

"We were able to set up the MSRDC project at almost half the cost. Reliance had quoted Rs 3,600 crores for the project, but we finished it in just Rs 1,600 crores, saving Rs 2,000 crore "he stated

The state government has monetized the road twice, he said. "It was monetized for Rs 3,000 crore in 1996, and it was just monetized for Rs 8,000 crore. So a project that cost Rs 1,600 crores to build has earned Rs 11,000 crores so far "he said"This example was provided just to demonstrate the need of road and infrastructure improvements. It will undoubtedly give you good returns.

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