India’s roads network grows 59% in last nine years, says Gadkari

The network of roads in India grew 59 per cent in the last nine years to become the second largest in the world after the US, Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said.

Highway to growth 

• Road transport is a critical infrastructure for the economic development of a country. It impacts the pace, structure and pattern of development.

• The capacity of National Highways in terms of handling traffic (passenger and goods) needs to keep pace with economic growth. 

• India has the second largest road network in the world of about 63.32 lakh km. 

• This comprises National Highways, expressways, state highways, major district roads, other district roads and village roads.

• National Highways play a very important role in the economic and social development of the country by enabling efficient movement of freight and passengers and improving access to markets.

• National Highways account for 2 per cent of the total road network and carry over 40 per cent of total traffic.

Points highlighted by Gadkari:

• The revenues from tolls rose to Rs 4,1342 crore in FY23 from Rs 4,770 crore in 2013-14.

• The government aims to increase the toll revenue to Rs 1,30,000 crore by 2030.

• The usage of FASTags has helped in reducing the waiting time at the toll plazas from 734 seconds to 47 seconds, and various measures to reduce it further to below 30 seconds.

• In the last nine years, the four-lane NH increased about two-fold to 44,654 km from 18,371 km in 2013-14.

• Special emphasis is being laid on the expansion of the road highway network in the northeast region. Projects worth more than Rs 2 lakh crore are being carried out in the region.

• Under the NHAI’s INviT (Infrastructure Investment Trust) model, a bond issue was launched and garnered tremendous response. 

• The ministry has utilised 30 lakh tonnes of garbage in road construction for the Delhi Ring Road project, demonstrating a proactive approach towards waste management and sustainable infrastructure development.

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