ROADS BRIDGES TUNNELS - BUILD NATION TO MOVE ON.
Roads Bridges and Tunnels are arteries, veins and capillaries that move the people products and services from one place to another. It facilitates the GDP, helps employment and thereby bring prosperity. It also facilitates socio-economic development of the country.
India is great example of getting a significant boost in her economy with Roads Bridges and Tunnels getting developed in the recent past.
India has the second largest road network across the world at 5.4 million km. This road network transports more than 60 per cent of all goods in the country and 85 per cent of India's total passenger traffic.
Road transportation has gradually increased over the years with the improvement in connectivity between cities, towns and villages in the country. To-day we see great socio-economic reforms in sight due to the mobility of Indian community. Thanks to the vision of our governments, Engineers and the workforce who lead India to better future.
The Indian roads carry almost 90 per cent of the country's passenger traffic and around 65 per cent of its freight. In India sales of automobiles and movement of freight by roads is growing at a rapid rate.
Market size
The construction of highways reached 122,432 km during FY2017-18 which was constructed at an average of 28 km per day.
Total length of roads constructed under Prime Minister's Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) was 47,447 km in 2017-18.
Key Investments/Developments/Government Initiatives.
The Union Minister of State for Road, Transport and Shipping has stated that the Government aims to boost corporate investment in roads and shipping sector, along with introducing business-friendly strategies that will balance profitability with effective project execution.
- The first phase of construction work of Mumbai's 29.2 km long coastal road is expected to off load pressure on the highways and other ancillary roads.
- The Central Road Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2017 has been passed by Lok Sabha, Government of India which would result in revenues of Rs 2,300 crore (US$ 358.7 million) for national waterways in the country.
- The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India plans to implement 'Value Engineering Program in order to promote use of new technologies and material in highway projects being executed in India.
- In April 2018, the Government of India signed a US$ 210 million deal with World Bank to improve rural roads at a stretch of 10,510 km in Madhya Pradesh under the Gram Sadak Yojana program.
- In May 2018, the Government of India signed US$ 500 million loan agreement with World Bank to provide additional funding for construction of 7,000 km climate resilient roads out of which 3,500 km will be built using green technologies under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGDY).
- In May 2018, IIFCL Mutual Fund launched infrastructure debt fund (IDF) scheme with Corporation Bank, Oriental Bank of Commerce & IIFCL as investors and Canara Bank & HUDCO as strategic investors.
- In May 2018, the Government of India approved construction of a 9.9 km 6 lane bridge project across Ganga in Uttar Pradesh on NH-36 with the total capital cost of Rs 1,948.25 crore (US$ 302.29 million). The construction of the project is expected to be completed by December 2021.
ISSUES faced
- The main roads in India are under huge pressure and in great need of modernization in order to handle the increased requirements of the Indian economy.
- Maintenance, expansion of the network and widening of existing roads is becoming increasingly important. This would then enable the roads to handle increased traffic, and also allow for a corresponding increase in the average movement speed on India's roads.
- The intra-city vehicle speed is one of the lowest in the world. As per a study in 2017, average traffic speed in Bengaluru was 17.2 kmph, while Delhi had the highest traffic speeds in India at 25 kmph. Amongst the other major cities, the average traffic speed in Mumbai was 20.7 kmph, Kolkata (19.2 kmph), Hyderabad (18.5 kmph) and Chennai (18.9 kmph).[40]
- Accident on the roads are of major concern. The ratio of India's larger population, the accident and fatalities rates are similar to major economies. Over 2004–2007, India had a road fatality rate of 132 deaths per million citizens, compared to 131 deaths per million citizens in the United States. Non-fatal accident rates reported on Indian roads was 429 accidents per million citizens, compared to 412 accidents per million citizens in China, and 1101 accidents per million citizens in the United States.
- The low road densities per 1000 people has created significant congestion and slow speeds on existing roads inside cities. Because of the congestion, the fuel efficiency of the vehicles in India is very low. This increases the overall fuel consumption per equivalent kilometer travelled, besides resulting in heavy pollution since the engines run very inefficiently at such low speeds.
Efforts to address issues
India's recent efforts to build modern highways and improve its road network has made a significant difference in trucking logistics. In a 2010 report, KPMG
– one of the world's largest audit and advisory services company – noted marked improvements in Indian road network and logistics efficiency in recent years.
The report also identified;
- The average road speed in India has increased to 30–40 kilometers per hour. The worldwide average road speed, which includes China, ranges between 60–80 kilometers per hour.
- Four lane road network in India has increased to 7,000 kilometers.
- Average surface freight costs have dropped to US$0.07 per kilometer. Japan, in comparison, has average surface freight costs of US$0.037 per kilometer.
- The KPMG report also notes that India's road network logistics and transportation bottlenecks hinder its GDP growth by one to two percent (US$16 billion – US$32 billion). In India's 2010 per capita income basis, this is equivalent to a loss of about 10 million new jobs every year.
- Poor rural roads and traffic congestion inside the cities remains a challenge in India. The planned addition of over 12,000 kilometers of expressways in the next 10 years may help address some of such issues.
Road Ahead
The government, through a series of initiatives, is working on policies to attract significant investor interest.
- The Indian government plans to develop a total of 66,117 km of roads under different program such as National Highways Development Project (NHDP), Special Accelerated Road Development Program in North East (SARDP-NE) and Left Wing Extremism (LWE).
- The government has identified development of 2,000 km of coastal roads to improve the connectivity between ports and remote villages.
- The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) plans to build 50,000 km of roads worth US$ 250 billion by 2022 as part of a long-term goal of doubling the length of the national highway network to 200,000 km.
- The Government of India will spend around Rs 1 lakh crore (US$ 15.26 billion) during FY 18-20 to build roads in the country under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
- The Government of India has decided to invest Rs 7 trillion (US$ 107.82 billion) for construction of new roads and highways over the next five years
Current Issue
02-2026
