The government has completed the construction of 57,125 km of National Highways in the last five years, averaging 34,215 lane-km annually. This effort has resulted in the generation of approximately 33 crore person-days of employment each year, encompassing both direct and indirect employment opportunities. Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari shared this information with Parliament on Wednesday.
The government aims to make 18,000 km of access-controlled National Expressways operational by 2028-29. Additionally, there is a plan to award a total of 26,000 km of access-controlled Expressways by 2032-33. The development of ring roads and bypasses for cities with populations exceeding five lakh is also a priority, as highlighted by the minister in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Furthermore, projects focusing on enhancing port connectivity based on the Ministry of Shipping’s prioritization and improving connectivity to industrial nodes in alignment with the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation’s priorities are underway. Gadkari emphasized that these planned developments will enhance logistics efficiency, serving as a catalyst for economic growth.
Gadkari underscored the significance of the infrastructure sector as a key driver of the economy, fostering rapid economic growth and overall development. He noted that the National Highway (NH) network’s length has expanded from 91,287 km in March 2014 to the current 1,46,572 km.
The National Highways primarily serve long-distance connectivity needs. With increased budget allocations over the years, there has been a substantial improvement in road quality. The operational length of access-controlled National High Speed Corridors (HSCs)/Expressways has surged from 93 km in 2014 to 3,052 km presently. Moreover, the length of four-lane and above NH network, including access-controlled HSCs/Expressways, has grown 2.6 times from 18,371 km in 2014 to 48,568 km today, as per the minister’s statement.
The proportion of NHs with less than 2 lanes has decreased from 30% in 2014 to 9% of the total NH network. These advancements have significantly improved connectivity and accessibility of urban, rural, and industrial areas to the NH network nationwide, consequently enhancing logistics efficiency, as highlighted by Gadkari.
A study by IIT Kanpur revealed that the construction of 1 lane-km of National Highway results in direct employment generation of 4,478 person-days and indirect employment generation of 5,297 person-days. Furthermore, the long-term impact of highway construction leads to an induced employment generation of 52,393 person-days per lane-km over a 7-year period, driven by increased economic activities in the region.
