Government Initiatives

Some of the recent Government initiatives are as follows:

• In a significant effort to enhance infrastructure, the Union government approved eight national high-speed corridor projects, involving the construction of 936 kilometers of highways at a total cost of Rs. 50,655 crore (US$ 6.09 billion).
• Investment in road connectivity projects including Patna-Purnea expressway, Buxar-Bhagalpur highway and an additional two-lane bridge over the Ganga in Buxar for Rs. 26,000 crore (US$ 3.11 billion) along with a new 2,400 MW power plant at Pirpainti costing Rs. 21,400 crore (US$ 2.56 billion).
• In March 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for 112 national highway projects across various states, with a total worth of approximately US$ 12.04 billion (Rs. 1 lakh crore).
• In the fiscal year 2023-24 (up to July), a budget of US$ 34.04 million (Rs. 276 crore) has been designated for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY).
• The government has enlisted a consultant to advise on adopting new technologies like GNSS for barrier-free tolling. GNSS-based Electronic Toll Collection will be piloted alongside FAS Tag on select National Highways.
• Bharat New Car Assessment Program launched for safety rating of passenger cars and empowering consumers to take informed decisions.
• In August 2023, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) made a big step towards improving the highway user experience, with the introduction of 'Rajmargyatra,' a citizen-centric unified mobile application. This user-friendly app provides travellers with in-depth knowledge of Indian National Highways as well as an effective procedure for filing complaints.
• In July 2023, Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi dedicated a six-lane greenfield motorway part of the Amritsar-Jamnagar Economic Corridor and the first phase of the Inter-State Transmission Line for Green Energy Corridor.
• Increasing the pace of development of Uttar Pradesh, the Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways, Mr. Nitin Gadkari inaugurated two National Highway projects with an investment of more than Rs. 3,300 crore (US$ 396.8 million) in Lucknow on July 17, 2023.
• In June 2023, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) introduced a ‘Knowledge Sharing’ platform for sharing of knowledge and innovative best practices. This effort, which is hosted on the NHAI website, will assist the authority in working with specialists and citizens who want to exchange knowledge and views about subjects including road design, construction, road safety, environmental sustainability, and related sectors. The platform will promote the exchange of best practices from all around the world and work to strengthen the nation's national highway system.
• NHAI will come out with the third and fourth rounds of Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs) to raise over Rs. 20,000 crore (US$ 2.41 billion) in FY24.
• NHAI is planning to award 1,000-1,500 km of projects under the BOT model in 2023-24.
• As of December 19, 2023, a total of 749,639 km of road length has been constructed under PMGSY.
• India’s Gati Shakti program has consolidated a list of 81 high impact projects, out of which road infrastructure projects were the top priority. The major highway projects include the Delhi-Mumbai expressway (1,350 kilometres), Amritsar-Jamnagar expressway (1,257 kilometres) and Saharanpur-Dehradun expressway (210 kilometres). The main aim of this program is a faster approval process which can be done through the Gati shakti portal and digitized the approval process completely.
• As of March 2022, the government plans to spend Rs. 10,565 crore (US$ 1.38 billion) on the Trans-Arunachal Highway and Kaladan Multi-Model Transport Project, as well as other roads development projects such as capital connectivity, district connectivity, connectivity to the international border, and improvement and strengthening of roads in the region of Sikkim.
• The Indian government launched Gati Shakti-National Master Plan, which will help lead a holistic and integrated development of infrastructure generating immense employment opportunities in the country.
• In October 2021, the government issued a notice related to concessions under the Vehicle Scrapping Policy (effective from April 2022) to encourage vehicle owners towards discarding old vehicles which have higher fuel consumption costs.
• In October 2021, the government launched a conversion project for 15 major roads in the Agartala smart city, the project will convert these roads to weather-resilient ones, and further strengthen development of the region.
• In October 2021, the government announced rules to improve road safety, such as fixed driving hours for commercial truck drivers and a mandate to install sleep detection sensors in commercial vehicles.
• In FY22 (until October), the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways constructed national highways extending 4,450 kms compared with 4,956 kms in FY21 (until October).
• In October 2021, the government announced a plan to install charging stations every 40 to 60 kilometres on national highways to strengthen wayside amenities; in line with this, ~700 e-vehicle charging stations are expected to be installed by 2023, covering 35,000 to 40,000 kms of national highways.
• In September 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways constructed national highways extending 3,824 kms compared with 3,335 kms in August 2021.
• To transform road infrastructure in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, the Indian government has planned to construct roads extending 313 kms for Rs. 11,000 crore (US$ 1.48 billion).
• In September 2021, the Indian government announced road projects worth Rs. 1 lakh crore (US$ 13.48 billion) to develop road infrastructure in Jammu and Kashmir. The region has also witnessed growth in national highways, from 7 in 2014 to 11 in 2021.
• In September 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways allocated Rs. 7,270 crore (US$ 980.9 million) for road safety programmes in 14 states that constitute 85% of the total road fatalities in India.
• Under Phase-I of Bharatmala Pariyojana, the Ministry has approved implementation of 34,800 km of national highways in 5 years with an outlay of Rs. 5,35,000 crore (US$ 76.55 billion). Under this scheme, 22 greenfield projects (8,000 kms length) are being constructed; this is worth Rs. 3.26 lakh crore (US$ 43.94 billion). A network of 35 Multimodal Logistics Parks are planned to be developed as part of Bharatmala Pariyojana, with a total investment of about Rs. 46,000 crore (US$ 5.55 billion), which can handle around 700 MMT of cargo.
• The government also aims to construct 23 new national highways by 2025.
• The Minister for Road Transport & Highways and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Mr. Nitin Gadkari, is targeting to construct 40 kms per day in FY22.
• In August 2021, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Mr. Nitin Gadkari, announced to launch 1,080-km (road construction) projects worth Rs. 25,370 crore (US$ 3.4 billion) in Gujarat under the Bharatmala Pariyojana—the ambitious road and highways project that aims to build highways from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab, Haryana and then cover the entire string of Himalayan territories.
• In August 2021, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways extended certain relief measures provided earlier in view of the second COVID-19 wave. The following relief measures have been extended:
  • Relaxation in Schedule H/G with effect from July 01, 2021, until September 30, 2021, to improve liquidity of funds available with contractors and concessionaire.
  • Arrangement regarding direct payment to the approved sub-contractor through an escrow account can be continued until September 30, 2021, or completion of work by the sub-contractor, whichever is earlier.
• In August 2021, the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Mr. Nitin Gadkari sanctioned Rs. 100 crore (US$ 13 million) to restore roads affected by heavy rains in Konkan and Western Maharashtra. This includes Rs. 52 crore (US$ 7.0 million) for temporary restoration and Rs. 48 crore (US$ 6 million) for permanent restoration.
• In August 2021, the central government sanctioned >Rs. 600 crore (US$ 81 million) of the Central Road and Infrastructure Fund (CRIF), for construction of 42 roads and bridges in Uttarakhand.