New Advancements in Road Construction in India

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 New Advancements in Road Construction in India

Mr. Chetan R. Limkar, crlimkar@coe.sveri.ac.in Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Shri Vithal Education Research Institute’s College of Engineering, Pandharpur, Maharashtra, India, (413304)

Welcome to my first blog post! My name is Mr. Chetan R Limkar and I am so excited to share with you more about New Advancements in Road Construction in India! The number of ideas and inspiration whirling around in my head is ready to jump out. I wanted to start by telling you why I created this blog, is to give information about ongoing and upcoming work of road construction in India.Roads have always been vital infrastructure for a country as they enable efficient transportation of freight and people. With the higher thrust on infrastructure development over the last couple of years, the road construction industry in India is undergoing a paradigm shift. Robust demand, higher investments, and significant policy support are changing the face of the sector.

One of the largest networks in the world.

India has the second-largest road networks in the world, spanning over a total of 5.5 million km. Over 64.5 percent of all goods in the country are transported through roads, while, 90 percent of the total passenger traffic uses road networks to commute.At 1.80 kilometers (1.12 mi) of roads per square kilometer of land, the quantitative density of India’s road network is equal to that of Germany and substantially higher than the United States (0.68 km, 0.42 mi), China (0.49 km, 0.30 mi), Brazil (0.18 km, 0.11 mi) and Russia (0.09 km, 0.056 mi). Adjusted for its large population, India has approximately 4.87 kilometers (3.03 mi) of roads per 1,000 people. As of 31 March 2017, 63.24% of Indian roads were paved.

Rising budget allocation of road sector:-

  • UndertheUnionBudget2019-20,theGovernmentofIndiahasallocatedRs1.12trillion(US$15.48billion)undertheMinistry of Road Transport and Highways.
  • For2019-20,theMinistryofRoadTransportandHighwaysisestimatedthetotalexpenditureofRs.83,016crore.

Growing private sector involvement:-

  • As of September 2017, 312 projects were recommended for development by the Public-Private Partnership Appraisal Committee (PPPAC).
  • Investment of US$ 31 billion for national highways is expected in PPP by2020.

Rapid growth in national highways:-

  • In the next five years, the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will able to generate Rs 1 lakh crore annually from toll and othersources.
  • National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to raise Rs 40,000 crore to monetize its highway assets through Infrastructure Investment Trust(InvIT).
  • The Government of India aims to complete 200,000 km of national highways by2022.NHs under the Bharatmala Pariyojana program which aims to optimize the productivity of freight and passenger movement by filling the critical infrastructure gaps also sight to increase the number of districts with national highway linkages from 300 to550.
  • The Government has received public sector undertakings from countries like Malaysia and Japan for funding the upcoming highway projects in India – annuity model 60 percent of the investment is borne by the private investors 40 percent by NHAI in 5 equalinstallments.
  • The Union Government and Asian Development Bank signed a US$ 500 million loan agreement to build the longest bridge across river Ganga, in Bihar. The bridge is expected to be ready by2020

Road network in India is subdivided into three categories:-

State highways:-

·         Total length: 155,222km.
·         Share 3 percent of thetotal roads inIndia.

National highways:-

·         Total length: 132,500km.
·         Share 2 percent of thetotal roads inIndia.

Other roads:-

·         Total length: 5,207,044km.
·         Share 95 percent of thetotal roads inIndia.

Strong Momentum in Expansion of Roadways:-

  • ·         Highway construction in India increased at 23.25 percent CAGR (cumulative annual growth rate) between FY14-18. In FY18, 9,829 km of highways were constructed with an expenditure of Rs 1.16 trillion. The Government of India aims to construct 65,000 km of national highways at the cost of Rs 5.35 lakh crore by 2022.
  • The government will use the waste of plastic for the construction of roads. One of the roads has been recently constructed with plastic waste near Dhaula Kuan also planning for the construction of Delhi-Meerut Expressway and Gurugram-Sohna road.
  • The Government of India has set a target for the construction of 10,000 km of the national highway in FY19. During April-December 2018 a total of length of 6,715 km of national highways were constructed.
  • Highway construction revenues are forecasted to grow at a CAGR (cumulative annual growth rate) of 20 percent by 2020.
  • In March 2019, National Highway projects worth Rs 1,10,154 crore were inaugurated
  • The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways is planning to build 12,000 km of highways by end of FY20.
  • On May 2018, Delhi-Meerut Expressway was inaugurated as the first national highway in the country with 14 lanes, dedicated cycle tracks and pedestrian paths with several eco-friendly features.
  • As of October 2018, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) awarded Mumbai Coastal Road Project worth Rs 21.26 billion to Hindustan Construction Company Ltd (HCC) and Hyundai Development Corporation (HDC) joint venture.

Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North East Region:-

  • The Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North-Eastern region (SARDP-NE) is aimed at developing road connectivity between remote areas in the North East with state capitals and districtheadquarters.
  • Implementationoftheroaddevelopmentprogramwouldfacilitateconnectivityof88districtheadquartersinNorth-Easternstatestothenearest National Highways.
  • The Government of India plans to invest Rs 1.45 lakh crore towards road infrastructure in the North-East region between 2018- 2020.
  • In April 2018, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways approved Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase-I which includes improvement of 3,528 km road in the North East region from 2017-18 to2021-22.
  • In December 2017, Mr. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, announced the investment of Rs 60,000 crore under SARDP between2018-2020.

Rural development:-

  • The Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a scheme for the development of rural roads in India. The Government of India has succeeded in providing road connectivity to 85 percent of the 178,184 eligible rural habitations and all villages are expected to be connected through a road network by 2019. The total length of roads constructed was 47,447 km in2017-18.
  • To widen and revamp 1.25-lakh km of roads government of India has approved the launch of Phase-III of its rural road program Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY).
  • As per Union Budget 2019-20, Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has brought many socio-economic gains in the rural areas. Under the Union Budget 2019-20, the Government of India allocated Rs 19,000 crore for the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY).
  • AsperUnionBudget2019-20,30,000kmofPMGSYroadshavebeenbuiltusingGreenTechnology,Waste Plastic, and Cold Mix Technology, thereby reducing the carbonfootprint.
  • PMGSY-III is envisaged to upgrade 1, 25,000 km of road length over the next five years, with an estimated cost of Rs 80,250 crore.

Bharatmala Pariyojana Project:-

  • By2024,BharatmalaPariyojanaisexpectedtosee55percentofcostoverrunandawardingactivitiestobecompleted.
  • A total length of 34,800 km road projects has been proposed to be constructed with an estimated outlay of Rs 5.35 trillion under Bharatmala PariyojanaPhase-I.
  • The National Highway Authority (NHAI) will consider only those projects that require the minimal land acquisition of worth about Rs 3 trillion under the BharatmalaPariyojana scheme.
  • Atotalof 65,000kmof roadsandhighwaysaretobeconstructedunderBharatmalaPariyojana.

          The main roads in India are under huge pressure and in great need of modernization to handle the increased requirements of the Indian economy. In addition to maintenance, the expansion of the network and the 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.

          With the new advancements which are going on in the road construction industry, India’s later efforts to build modern highways and improve its road network have made a significant difference to trucking logistics, the journey time between two places has reduced significantly. And also it increases the average road speed.

References:-

  1. Basic Road Statistics of India 2016-17″ (PDF). Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. www.ibef.org -Roads December 2019 Report.TechSci Research in consultation with (IBEF) India Brand Equity Foundation
  3. India Transport Sector”. World Bank.
  4. MoRTH Annual Report 2015–16
  5. Ministry of Roads Transport & Highways Annual Report 2017-18
  6. Report by the Ministry of External Affairs
  7. Report by Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)      
  8. Union Budget 2018-19
  9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roads_in_India
  10. “Logistics in India”. DHL. 2008. Archived from the original on 24 July 2012.

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