Initiatives
For a country of
India's size, an efficient road network
is necessary both for national
integration as well as for
socio-economic development. The National
Highways (NH), with a total length of
65,569 km, serve as the arterial network
across the country. The ongoing
programme of four-laning the 5,900 km
long Golden Quadrilateral (GQ)
connecting Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and
Kolkata is nearing completion. The
ongoing four-laning of the 7,300 km
North-South East-West (NSEW) corridor is
to be completed by December 2009. In its
third meeting held on 13 January, 2005,
the Committee on Infrastructure adopted
an Action Plan for development of the
National Highways network. An ambitious
National Highway Development Programme (NHDP),
involving a total investment of
Rs.2,20,000 crore upto 2012, has been
established. The main elements of the
programme are as follows:
Four-laning of the
Golden Quadrilateral and NS-EW Corridors
(NHDP I & II)
The NHDP Phase I and Phase II
comprise of the Golden Quadrilateral (GQ)
linking the four metropolitan cities in
India i.e. Delhi-Mumbai-Chennai-Kolkata,
the North-South corridor connecting
Srinagar to Kanyakumari including the
Kochi-Salem spur and the East-West
Corridor connecting Silchar to Porbandar
besides port connectivity and some other
projects on National Highways. Four-laning
of the Golden Quadrilateral is nearing
completion. The contracts for projects
forming part of NS-EW corridors are
being awarded rapidly for completion by
December 2009.
Four-laning of
10,000 kms (NHDP-III)
The Union Cabinet has approved the four-laning
of 10,000 km of high density national
highways, through the Build, Operation
& Transfer (BOT) mode. The programme
consists of stretches of National
Highways carrying high volume of
traffic, connecting state capitals with
the NHDP Phases I and II network and
providing connectivity to places of
economic, commercial and tourist
importance.
Two laning of
20,000 km (NHDP-IV)
With a view to providing balanced and
equitable distribution of the
improved/widened highways network
throughout the country, NHDP-IV
envisages upgradation of 20,000 kms of
such highways into two-lane highways, at
an indicative cost of Rs.25,000 crore.
This will ensure that their capacity,
speed and safety match minimum
benchmarks for national highways.
Six-laning of
6,500 kms (NHDP-V)
Under NHDP-V, the Committee on
Infrastructure has approved the six-laning
of the four-lane highways comprising the
Golden Quadrilateral and certain other
high density stretches, through PPPs on
BOT basis. These corridors have been
four-laned under the first phase of NHDP,
and the programme for their six-laning
will commence in 2006, to be completed
by 2012. Of the 6,500 kms proposed under
NHDP-V, about 5,700 kms shall be taken
up in the GQ and the balance 800 kms
would be selected on the basis of
approved eligibility criteria.
Development of
1000 km of expressways (NHDP-VI)
With the growing importance of
certain urban centres of India,
particularly those located within a few
hundred kilometers of each other,
expressways would be both viable and
beneficial. The Committee on
Infrastructure has approved 1000 k.m. of
expressways to be developed on a BOT
basis, at an indicative cost of
Rs.15,000 crore. These expressways would
be constructed on new alignments.
Other Highway
Projects (NHDP-VII)
The development of ring roads, byepasses,
grade separators and service roads is
considered necessary for full
utilization of highway capacity as well
as for enhanced safety and efficiency.
For this, a programme for development of
such features at an indicative cost of
Rs.15,000 crore, has been mandated.
Accelerated Road
Development Programme for the North East
Region
The Accelerated North-East Road
Development Project is under
consideration, which will mainly provide
connectivity to all the State capitals
and district headquarters in the
north-east. The proposal would include
upgrading other stretches on NH and
state highways considered critical for
economic development of the north-east
region.
Institutional
Initiatives
Steps are being taken for
restructuring and strengthening of
National Highways Authority of India (NHAI),
which is the implementing agency for the
National Highways programme.
Institutional mechanisms have been
established to address bottlenecks
arising from delays in environmental
clearance, land acquisition etc. A
special focus is being provided for
traffic management and safety related
issues through the proposed Directorate
of Safety and Traffic Management. It is
expected that the sum total of these
initiatives should be able to deliver an
efficient and safe highway network
across the country. In order to specify
the policy and regulatory framework on a
fair and transparent basis, a Model
Concession Agreement(MCA) for PPPs in
national highways has been mandated. It
is expected that this common framework,
based on international best practices,
will significantly increase the pace of
project award as well as ensure an
optimal balance of risk and reward among
all project participants.
Size
- India has an extensive road
network of 3.3 million kms the
second largest in the world
- Roads carry about 61% of the
freight and 85% of the passenger
traffic
- Highways/Expressways
constitute about 66,000 kms (2% of
all roads) and carry 40% of the road
traffic
- The Government of India spends
about Rs.18000 crores (US $ 4
billion) annually on road
development
- The ambitious National Highway
Development Project (NHDP) of the
Government is at an advanced stage
of implementation. Key sub-projects
under the NHDP include:
- Program for 4-laning of about
14,000 km of National Highways is
underway
Structure
Policy
- 100% FDI
under the automatic route is
permitted for all road
development projects
- Incentives:
- 100% income
tax exemption for a period of 10
years
- NHAI
agreeable to provide
grants/viability gap funding for
marginal projects
- Model
Concession Agreement formulated
The Golden Quadrilateral and NSEW
projects
Opportunity
Road
development is a priority sector
Outlook
- Annual growth
projected at 12-15% for
passenger traffic, and 15-18%
for cargo traffic
- Over $5060
billion investment is required
over the next 5 years to improve
road infrastructure
Potential
- Road
development is recognised as
essential to sustain Indias
economic growth
- The
Government is planning to
increase spends on road
development substantially with
funding already in place based
on a cess on fuel
- A large
component of highways is to be
developed through public-private
partnerships
- Several
high traffic stretches already
awarded to private companies on
a BOT basis
- Two
successful BOT models are
already in place the annuity
model and the upfront/lumpsum
payment model
- Investment
opportunities exist in a range
of projects being tendered by
NHAI for implementing the NHDP
contracts are for
construction or BOT basis
depending on the section being
tendered.
- A Rs.41,200
crores (US $ 5 billion) project
plans to lay 6 lane roads over
6,500 kms of National Highways
on the Design Build Finance and
Operate (DBFO) basis in
Golden Quadrilateral and other
high traffic stretches.
India has the second largest road
network in the world
An annual growth of 12-15% for passenger
traffic has been projected
For additional information:
Department of Road Transport and
Highways, Ministry of Shipping, Road
Transport and Highways (http://morth.nic.in),
National Highways Authority of India (http://www.nhai.org)
Content Source: www.infrastructure.gov.in
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