Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has directed his Ministry to achieve the target set for road construction to fulfil the ambitions of New India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The NDA government has continued to perform and better its records in the road sector. It is evident from the speed at which the national highways (NHs) construction has tripled since 2014-15. The average per day figure has increased dramatically from just 12 km per day in 2014- 15 to 37 km per day in 2020-21. In the last seven years, the length of NHs has gone up by more than 50%, from 91,287 km (as of April 2014) to around 1,41,000 now. In the current financial year 2021-22, the Ministry has so far built 5,407 km of NHs (as of December 24 2021).
MoRTH, in its Year-End Review for 2021, has stated that “The year 2021 was significant for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) as it not only continued with the good work done previously but also initiated certain measures which will have far-reaching impact on the life of the citizens.”
The Ministry has also initiated the conceptualization of additional 27 Greenfield Expressways / Access Controlled Highways for an approximate total investment of about Rs. 3.6 lakh crore.
The development of National Highways (NHS) is a continuous process. The Ministry takes up NH projects based on the requirements of connectivity, traffic density, inter se priority, and the availability of resources.
553 National Highways Projects in a length of 10,964 Km have been awarded from 2020-to 21. Expenditure incurred for ongoing works of National Highways (NHS) Projects during 2020-21 is Rs 1 53,240 Crore.
The contributions received under Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) mode during 2020-21 is Rs 12,476 Crore. It has been estimated that 4076 person-days of work is created for every km of road constructed. In addition, a road project has a force multiplier effect on the economy that results in the creation of indirect employment.
Construction works on National Highways were delayed to some extent due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and the loss of time was estimated to be generally in the range of 3-9 months, depending upon the project parameters. The government has taken several steps under Atmanirbhar Bharat like granting time extensions for 3 to 9 months, relaxation in contract provisions for ensuring cash flow, direct payment to sub-contractors and release of retention/security money to augment cash flow, waiver of penalty in case of delay in submission of Performance Security (for new Contracts), to expedite the construction work to achieve the target, stated, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the LokSabha on March 24, 2022.The Ministry is primarily responsible for developing and maintaining National Highways (NHs).
The Ministry is working actively to realize the Prime Minister’s vision of building an integrated multimodal national transportation and logistics network as part of the “PM GatiShakti – National Master Plan”.
While work continued on the different NH projects and tunnels at high speed, including Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, Bangalore-Chennai Expressway and Zojila Tunnel, the foundation stone was laid for many projects by Prime Minister Modi, like the Delhi-Dehradun Expressway, which will reduce the existing travel time between Dehradun and the National Capital thereafter, and the Zojila Tunnel.
Through the “PM Gati Shakti – National Master Plan”, Ministry plans to showcase the investment opportunities in highways, transport and logistics, focusing on three central themes – Bharatmala Pariyojana, Asset Monetization and Vehicle Scrappage Policy.
Gadkari has urged investors to come forward and invest with an open mind in the infrastructure sector, which offers a diverse array of investment opportunities spanning multiple asset classes, including Highways, Multimodal Logistics Parks, Wayside Amenities, Ropeways, Warehousing Zones and more.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari, in a written reply in the Lok Sabhaon March 24, 2022, informed that Ministry had received 582 new proposals for NH Projects from the States/UTs during the current financial year up to February-2022.The project completion time is generally kept as 2-3 years from the award date.
Development of (NHs) is a continuous process as per the requirement of connectivity, inter-se priority, traffic density, and available resources. Ministry envisaged constructing about 60,000 Km of National Highways during the five-year period from 2019-20 to 2023-24, of which 31,609 Km has been constructed up to February 2022, and the balance length of about 28,391 Km is planned to be constructed in the remaining period from March 2022 to the end of the financial year 2023-24.
Prime Minister Modi has directed the Road Transport and Highways Ministry and associated ministries to work in close coordination to ensure the timely completion of projects. The proactive steps taken by the government in the last seven years have had a positive effect on other sectors. The government has taken proactive measures to revive languishing projects, solve operational issues, provide time bound dispute resolution, expedite land acquisition, provide an enhanced focus on road safety and adopt technology- enabled solutions.