NEW DELHI: India is firming up plans for a $1.6-trillion financing institution that will fund highway projects across the country with a 26-percent stake held by Japanese companies, to achieve a target of 30 km of road-laying per day, Nitin Gadkari, one of the most important ministers in the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has said.

"Our talks are very much on. They are in a very advanced stage. We are trying to attract foreign funds and they seem very much interested. They see value and good prospects in investing in the sector," Road Transport and Highways Minister Gadkari, who also looks after shipping, told IANS in an exclusive interview as he reviewed his ministry's one year in office.

This funding arm, he said, will also secure all the green and regulatory clearances.

"We are also in touch with pension, endowment, insurance and private funds to attract investments. We have been holding talks with potential investors across the globe. We have also been telling them that regulatory norms have now changed. The prospects are far better," he said.

"We want to ensure that each and every highway project in our country -- the ongoing ones and the future ones -- are on track and complete within the time assigned," the minister said and pointed out that all the 62 stalled highway projects will be re-started by end-June.

Gadkari said when he took charge of the ministry last year, there were 240 projects in all under the public-private partnership (PPP) model, out of which 186 were stuck. Out of the remaining, 44 have now been terminated, 80 have been re-started and the remaining will re-commence by June.

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