(GIST OF YOJANA) Road Infrastructure Getting Smarter

(October-2023)

Road Infrastructure Getting Smarter

Introduction:

The road infrastructure of India is classified into six categories. The road length in kilometres (km) of each of these categories and its compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in percentage over 1991, available most recently as of 31st March 2019.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY): Initiated in 2001, it aims to provide all-weather road connectivity in rural areas.
Rural roads constitute 70% of the total road length in India.
Both the quantity and quality of roads are important drivers of economic development and social inclusion. In recent decades, the focus has been more on quality with various enabling factors as discussed below.
Delinking road development and direct employment generation post-India’s economic liberalisation.
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) became operational in 1995.

Public Private Partnerships (PPP)

State Level Road Development Corporations: The first such corporation, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Limited (MSRDCL) was established in 1996. It has developed the Mumbai-Pune Expressway (opened in 2002).
Many other states have also followed suit since. Uttar Pradesh is a leader in developing expressway-standard roads.

National Highways Development Project (NHDP):

It was started in 1998 by NHAI.
Phase I: Four laned Golden Quadrilateral (GQ) connecting four metro cities.
Phase II: Four laned connecting the north-south and east-west corridors, connecting India’s extreme points.

Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY)

Viability Gap Funding (VGF) provision rejuvenated interest among bidders towards projects.
Model Concession Agreement (MCA): In the road sector, the first MCA was in 2000.
New Contracting Models and Asset Monetisation: Along with classical models such as Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) and PPP through Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT), other models such as the Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM), and Toll, Operate, and Transfer (TOT) have emerged.
The Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InVITs) have been operationalised to monetise built road assets.
Other organisations: Apart from the NHAI other organisations with specific mandates were set up.
Road Making Technologies: There has been improvement in technology over the years through the easier import of road-making equipment under an open general licence, technology transfers for domestic manufacturing, consortium of Indian bidders with foreign players for improved learning, and more.

Challenges in road infrastructure development:

There is a need for better road safety.
Issues with urban roads such as lack of attention due to shift towards rural roads, low speeds leading to loss of time and money, poor last-mile connectivity, poor urban goods movement, parking issues, coordination issues with urban public transport.
Need to focus on lane kilometres rather than road kilometres which will help to focus on access as well as capacity. Number of lanes needs to be specified in maps for better road choices by users.
Proper collection of Origin to Destination (OD) data.
Improvement in coordination with PPP players.