Road networks are the fundamental foundation of a nation's transportation system. To enhance India's highway network, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has requested cabinet approval for a Rs 22 lakh crore investment in a highway development plan aimed at expanding the country's highway network by 30,600 kilometers by fiscal year 2031-32.

The proposal for enhancing India's road network under the highway development plan was presented to the Ministry of Finance. The plan outlines the construction of 18,000 km of expressways and high-speed corridors, easing traffic on 4,000 km of national highways near cities, and developing strategic and international roads.

highway network
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It is to be noted that around 35% of the total investment is expected to come from the private sector.

An inter-ministerial meeting was organised to discuss the plan and finalize a roadmap for the execution of the project. The meeting chaired by Road Transport Secretary Anurag Jain, concluded that the highway development plan will be executed in two phases, and all projects are aimed to tender within Phase-1 by 2028-29 and to be finished by 2031-32. The Rs 22 lakh crore estimate applies to the projects in this first phase.

The ministry has also asked for a 10 per cent annual increase in budgetary allocation for project implementation. In the interim budget, the government allocated Rs 278,000 crore to the ministry, which is a 2.7% increase as compared to the previous year.

The second phase will develop the additional 28,400 Km, the financial needs for it will be decided later. The plan clarifies that sanctioning and awarding of the routes of Phase 2 will be completed by 2033-34, and the construction will be finished by 2036-37.

According to the Road Transport Ministry, India will need about 50,000 Km of high-speed corridors to meet its transportation needs. At present, only 3,900 Km of these corridors are functional, with projections indicating an increase to around 11,000 Km by 2026-27.

Following the completion of the project, the trucks will run at a speed of 85kmph on the national highway compared to the current speed of 45kmph. Comparatively, in US highways the average speed exceeds 100 kmph, while in China the average speed is 90kmph.

The government expects that the average speed enhancement will help the nation reach its goal of reducing logistics costs to 9-10% of GDP.

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