Over the years, the Indian road sector has maintained its position as a high priority sector for the centre. The focus has broadened to encompass road connectivity, safety, quality and sustainability. In line with industry expectations, asset monetisation has been successful, with over Rs 1 trillion being raised. In an interview with Indian Infrastructure, Nitin Jairam Gadkari, Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), talks about the sector’s achievements, key initiatives and future priorities. Excerpts…
How has been the growth of the roads and highways sector over the past few years? What have been the noteworthy initiatives and achievements?
The national highways (NHs) play an important role in India’s development through the efficient movement of freight and passengers. MoRTH has undertaken multiple initiatives since 2014 to augment the capacity of highway infrastructure.
At present, the total length of NHs in the country is 146,145 km, an increase of 60 per cent from 91,287 km in April 2014. The average annual award of NH contracts has increased by 2.8 times to 11,001 km in 2014-24 from 3,952 km in 2004-14. Around 110,016 km of NH contracts have been awarded during 2014-24, compared to 39,524 km awarded during 2004-14. The average annual NH construction has increased by 2.4 times to 9,608 km in 2014-24 from 4,173 km in 2004-14. Around 96,089 km has been constructed during 2014-24, compared to 41,736 km during 2004-14.
The length of corridors has increased eightfold to 4,293 km (including 2,138 km of national high speed corridors [HSCs]) in 2024 from 557 km (including 93 km of national HSCs) in 2014. Flagship HSCs that are planned to be operational by 2025-26 include Bengaluru-Chennai (262 km), Raipur-Visakhapatnam (465 km), Delhi-Amritsar-Katra (669 km), Delhi-Dehradun (239 km), Ahmedabad Dholera (109 km), Delhi-Mumbai (1,386 km) and Amritsar-Bathinda-Jamnagar (917 km).
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved eight national HSCs, spanning 936 km and entailing a total cost of Rs 506.55 billion, in August 2024. These are the Agra-Gwalior corridor, the Kharagpur-Moregram HSC, the Tharad-Deesa-Mehsana-Ahmedabad highway, the Ayodhya Ring Road highway, the Raipur-Ranchi highway (Pathalgaon-Gumla), Kanpur Ring Road, Guwahati Ring Road and the elevated Nashik Phata-Khed corridor.
Over the last three years, of the total expenditure of Rs 7.91 trillion, around Rs 2.2 billion (28 per cent) has been raised via private investments or toll and asset monetisation. The annual toll collection has doubled from Rs 268.25 billion in 2020-21 to Rs 547.62 billion in 2023-24.
Innovative models such as toll operate transfer, infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) and securitisation have been implemented. Around Rs 1.1 trillion has been raised through asset monetisation, with Rs 403.14 billion raised in 2023-24 alone. The sector constitutes the largest share (27 per cent or Rs 1.6 trillion) of the National Monetisation Plan targets. MoRTH is on track to meet this target by 2024-25, and is currently assessing the feasibility of the next round of InvITs.
What steps are being taken to improve road safety and sustainability? What are the key technology solutions gaining traction?
Road accidents are a major concern in India, with around 0.17 million fatalities and 0.5 million crashes occurring annually. The government’s cashless treatment scheme provides immediate emergency care to highway crash victims. A pilot has been launched in Chandigarh and pan-Indian roll-out is planned for 2024-25. The rectification of 13,000 blackspots is planned to be completed by 2029, with 4,640 already rectified. Advanced traffic management systems (ATMSs) are being installed for traffic rationalisation, and monitoring and reporting of incidents. All HSCs will be equipped with Level 2 ATMSs, while all NHs with four or more lanes will have Level 1 ATMSs. Ambulances and trauma centres are being set up at wayside amenities. In collaboration with MoRTH, the SaveLIFE Foundation has implemented a zero fatality corridor model on expressways, and has already observed a fatality reduction of over 68 per cent on the Mumbai-Pune expressway.
India aims to reduce the number of road fatalities by 50 per cent by 2030, and to less than 10 fatalities per 10,000 km by 2047.
In line with the net zero targets, many sustainability initiatives are under way. Mandatory improved emissions standards such as BS-VII and CAFE-III have been set. There is a target to reduce the number of vehicles certified under BS-III and BS-IV standards from 100 million currently to less than 10 million by 2029. Around 1,000 saplings are being planted per km as per the standards for divided carriageways. Around 40 million trees/saplings have been planted since 2016.
The world’s first 200 metre environment-friendly bamboo crash barrier has been set up on the Vani-Warora highway in Maharashtra. The use of bio bitumen is reducing the imports of bitumen and will mitigate the problem of stubble burning. Waste plastic is being utilised in bituminous mixes, reducing the carbon footprint. Around 1.9 million metric tonnes of inert material has been used in the Urban Extension Road-II and the Ahmedabad-Dholera expressway. Ultra high-performance fibre-reinforced concrete and geosynthetics are also being used.
What are the current and planned initiatives to reduce the country’s logistics costs? What measures are being taken to expediate highway construction?
MoRTH has awarded six multimodal logistics parks (MMLPs), at Jogighopa, Jalna, Chennai, Indore, Nagpur and Bengaluru, at a cumulative cost of around Rs 57.54 billion. Six more MMLPs, costing around Rs 76.2 billion, are planned to be awarded in 2024-25 at Anantapur, Pune, Nashik, Patna, Hyderabad and Jammu. Overall, around 70 MMLPs are planned to be developed by 2047.
Smart tolling technologies like FASTags have reduced waiting times at toll plazas from 714 seconds to 47 seconds, resulting in an economic impact of about Rs 434 billion. The installation of automatic number plate recognition and global navigation satellite systems on HSCs and NHs with four or more lanes will be carried out over the next five years.
The Bhoomi Rashi portal is being leveraged for digitised land acquisition approvals, enabling around three months’ worth of savings. The PM Gati Shakti portal and the national single-window system are being used for optimised alignment and faster inter-ministerial approvals. Stringent operating procedures are being implemented for project awards.
Innovative construction technologies such as wider pavers for faster road construction on HSCs are being used. An 18.75 metre wide paver has been used on the Delhi-Mumbai expressway. The implementation of optimal package sizing to ensure the simultaneous development of NHs is another MoRTH measure. Project reviews are being conducted by MoRTH in eight states to expedite pre-construction activities.
What measures are being taken for the promotion of alternative fuels? What are MoRTH’s plans for reducing the use of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles on Indian roads?
MoRTH has enabled regulations to catalyse the penetration of alternative fuels such as electricity, bio-ethanol, bio-CNG, methanol, LNG and hydrogen. As a result, the automobile industry is introducing new vehicle models and witnessing an encouraging response from the market. Further, it is in the process of setting up EV charging/battery swapping stations on all HSCs, and 30,000 km of NHs with four or more lanes, by 2029. The Electric Mobility Promotion Scheme 2024 has been introduced to subsidise 2W and 3W electric vehicles, the PM e-Bus Sewa scheme to accelerate the electrification of the public transport system, and the PLI scheme to promote the manufacturing of electric passenger cars, components and advanced chemistry cells in India. Further, trial runs of hydrogen-run motor vehicles will be conducted under the National Green Hydrogen Mission. The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has allocated Rs 4.96 billion for this.
There are plans to reduce the use of ICE vehicles. The Voluntary Vehicle-Fleet Modernisation Programme focuses on phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles. As of August 2024, around 65 registered vehicle scrapping facilities (RVSFs) and 81 automated fitness testing stations have been operationalised. Vehicle owners are being incentivised to scrap their vehicles at RVSFs. These incentives include up to 25 per cent concession in motor vehicle tax for non-transport vehicles and up to 15 per cent for transport vehicles, purchased with a certificate of deposit. Additionally, registration fees are waived for vehicles purchased with a certificate of deposit. Major original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) have agreed to extend discounts on new vehicles purchased against certificates of deposit. Seven OEMs have extended a 3 per cent discount on commercial vehicles, while 11 OEMS have extended a 1.5 per cent discount on private vehicles. Increased fees are being charged for registration, fitness certificates and fitness testing to discourage older vehicles.
What are some of the key unresolved issues in the sector?
Delays in acquiring land and forest clearances are delaying projects. The heavier monsoon in 2024-25 has also slowed down construction progress. Steps are being taken to maintain existing and newly built roads. Around 5,998 media complaints have been detected through MoRTH’s media analytics platform between July 2023 and August 2024. Over 75 per cent of them pertain to road conditions (potholes, damaged roads, waterlogging, broken dividers/medians, etc.) and other aspects of maintenance (street light, reflectors, etc). The government has formulated an NH network maintenance policy stipulating a mandatory contractual maintenance agency for each km of the entire network. The model concession agreements have outlined standards for road quality and specified tests that need to be conducted to ensure compliance. As part of the bridge health management system, mandatory real-time monitoring sensors are being used on bridges for preventive maintenance. Tools such as road asset management systems are being used for the protection and repair of roads due to landslides in the hills, as well as for the optimisation of resources and budgeting, supported by network survey vehicles that monitor the on-ground maintenance status of highways.
What are MoRTH’s top priorities for 2024-25? What are the construction, award and monetisation targets?
For 2024-25, the award and construction targets are 12,931 km and 10,421 km respectively. Projects worth Rs 4.55 trillion are expected to be approved. MoRTH aims to operationalise the MMLP at Jogighopa and award seven more. Around 100 wayside amenities will be operationalised. The asset monetisation target is around Rs 390 billion. MoRTH also plans to launch barrier-free tolling technology on HSCs and NHs with four or more lanes.
