National highway network in India up from 91,287 km to 1,46,145 km

December 14, 2024: The national highways network in India increased from about 91,287 km in March 2014 to about 1,46,145 km, Parliament was informed on December 13.

“The road transport ministry has laid focus on the development of high-speed access-controlled corridors and 4-lane road networks to contribute towards the development of the economy through improved logistics efficiency. The line length of the 4-lane plus national highway network, including high-speed corridors, has increased from about 18,371 km in March 2014 to about 46,179 km. Project implementation has already been started on 21 new access-controlled corridors, including expressways in which work in about 3,336 km length has been completed,” Minister of road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari informed the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.

The ministry has also emphasised on minimising less than 2-lane highways by upgrading these to minimum 2-lane/2-lane with paved shoulder. Accordingly, the length of less-than-2-lane highways has decreased from about 27,517 km in March 2014 to about 14,870 km.

The ministry has identified 35 multimodal logistics parks (MMLPs) for development to improve logistics efficiency in the Indian economy. 15 MMLPs have been prioritised for development under BMP-I, the minister informed.

According to Gadkari, capital expenditure incurred by his ministry has significantly increased from about Rs 51,000 crore in 2013-14 to more than Rs 2,40,000 crore in 2022-23, leading to the country’s economic boost and early achievement of a $5-trillion economy of the country.

“The ministry has also undertaken green initiatives by planting about 3.46 core trees since 2016, besides utilising municipal waste for embankment construction, waste plastics in Bituminous construction and waste slag in Cement Concrete Construction towards carbon neutrality and sustainable development,” Gadkari added in his statement.