<span style="color: #222222;">Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari today inaugurated a two-day National Conference 'Manthan' in Bengaluru. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that Water, Power, Transport and Communication are the four sectors that can catapult our country into a super economic super power.<br />''<br />''He emphasised the Prime Minister's dream of making India Aatmanirbhar and a five trillion economy can be realised through massive development in these four sectors. He underscored the need for the stakeholders to work with an integrated approach, use technology and think of innovative ideas and focus on planning futuristic policies.<br />''<br />''Mr. Gadkari cited examples that reduced cost of construction and improved quality. He said, the implementation of Amrut Sarovar Programme in Vidarbha, helped water conservation, improved ground water, sustained agriculture, generated income for the farmers along with the development of National Highway. Similarly, use of pre-cast material and modern equipment at Zojila tunnel construction project helped the government save 5,000 crore rupees.<br />''<br />''Speaking on other innovative ideas, the Minister gave the examples of cement concrete road construction in Mumbai, introduction of tree bank and transplantation besides highways to absorb carbon dioxide, introduction of award to the administration increasing green cover around the highways and introduction of ropeway and cable cars in hilly terrains.<br />''<br />''Mr. Gadkari said that the Gati-Shakti Programme introduced by the Central Government will improve port connectivity and reduce dependency on roads for goods transport. This will reduce the cost of transportation and also help exports. He emphasised on reducing logistics costs from 16 per cent to 10 per cent by improving waterways and introducing a multi- mode transport system.<br />''<br />''During the inaugural ceremony, Mr. Gadkari announced the winners of 10 applicants of Hackathon. The winners will receive 10 lakh rupees each in support for the development of apps that would transform the road transport sector. The Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways General (Dr.) V. K. Singh informed that the National Highways had increased from 91,000 kms in 2008 to 1,41,000 kms now. The pace of construction has improved from 12 kms a day to 37 kms now. The PWD, Transport and Tourism Ministers of different states and senior officials are taking part in the programme.</span><br />