Eight years of committed infra growth to build roads
The keystone of governance is to create economic growth and spread the benefits of growth to all. A better quality of life and ease of living result from policies that aim to create the right conditions for new economic opportunities. Higher economic growth leads to more funds being available for social development, finally taking us to a virtuous cycle of growth and development. The $5-trillion target for our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is an ambitious one, and the strategy to achieve it revolves around creating an ecosystem for growth, with its foundations on the creation of infrastructure and Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). As we celebrate 75 years of Independence, Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, we have embarked on an ambitious development journey.
Infrastructure development to fuel economic growth has been at the core of the government’s efforts since
2014. The focus has not only been on physical infrastructure but also digital infrastructure. The digital infrastructure created through the
Unified Payments Interface (UPI) initiative has been a singular success.
The creation of physical infrastructure is equally important with its multiplier effect on economic growth. The government, under the leadership of Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi, is pushing for investment in infrastructure.
Considering the massive investment required to build infrastructure, it was decided to lay down a clear roadmap for all infrastructure development projects that were to be taken up. And the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) came into being, with projects requiring an investment of ₹111 lakh crore. The NIP, coupled with the recently launched Gati Shakti programme, will ensure a holistic approach and timely delivery based on better coordination and planning.
Developing infrastructure in a diverse country such as ours requires detailed planning and facilitation. The Bharatmala Programme gave us the blueprint for highway development in an integrated manner. The programme envisaged the construction of 34,800 km of national highways. The programme follows a corridor-based national highway development, connecting 550-plus districts of the country, and catering to 70-80% of total freight on national highways.
Brownfield expansion and the improvement of highways serve an important purpose, but the game-changer in terms of reducing logistical costs is building accesscontrolled greenfield expressways connecting key cargo origin-destination centres. Consequently, five flagship expressways and 17 access-controlled corridors are being developed as part of Bharatmala Phase-1 at a total capital cost of ₹3.6 lakh crore.
It is now time for us to launch Phase-2 of the Bharatmala programme, and we have high levels of ambition, in keeping with the expectations of people across the country. The pace of award of works for national highways has almost doubled from an average of 5,900 km per annum between FY 2009-10 till FY 2013-14 to 11,000 km per annum since FY 2014-15. Similarly, the pace of annual construction has increased by 1.8 times to 9,000 km per annum since FY 2014-15, as compared to 4,900 km constructed per annum between FY 2009-10 till FY 2013-14.
Logistical costs must be reduced, and this happens to some extent by developing highways, but that itself is not sufficient to maximise returns from the investment in highways. Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPS) are critical enablers for ensuring integrated and efficient transportation as per the vision laid out in the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan. MMLPS are being developed across the country in 35 strategic locations (such as Jogighopa, Nagpur, Chennai, Indore, and Bengaluru) to address inefficiencies in the logistics sector. These 35 MMLPS will cater to over 50% of the nation’s road freight movement.
The development of highways in districts impacted by Left-wing extremism has also received special attention since 2014. For instance, a greenfield corridor between Raipur and Visakhapatnam is being developed passing through the backward districts of Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
At 14.96 km, the Zojila tunnel on the Srinagar-leh road will shorten the distance between Baltal (Sonamarg) and Minamarg in Ladakh from 40 km to 13 km, slashing travel time from three hours to 15 minutes
The scale of infrastructure development requires investments on a mammoth scale. As part of the National Monetisation Pipeline, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has launched its Infrastructure Investment Trust (INVIT) to monetise road projects. In view of the long-term nature of the assets, units of INVIT were placed with international and domestic institutional investors. The initial portfolio comprising five roads raised Rs ₹8,000 crore with 50% of investment from foreign investors.
Lastly, and most importantly, protecting the environment while developing infrastructure is a fine balancing act. My approach is to lean towards protecting the environment while faced with situations. I personally review the progress in planting trees along highways. The ministry of road transport and highways (MORTH) realised the need and importance of developing green corridors and promulgated the Green Highways (Plantations, Transplantations, Beautification and Maintenance) Policy in September 2015 to develop green corridors along national highways for sustainable growth. In post-policy years from 2016-17 to 2020-21, more than 20 million plants have been planted.
In 2021-2022, till November, a cumulative 6.3 million-plus new plants have been planted by NHAI with avenue plantation accounting for 2.75 million, while median plantation accounts for 3.56 million new plants. Further, plantation is closely monitored using the latest technology of drone videography and geo-tagging, along with the traditional methods of field inspections.
In the process, we created a few world records with the rate of highway construction being one of the highest in the world at 37 km per day, among several others.