While the Department of Transportation is ending the concept of two-lane highways, it will also experiment with access control on four-lane highways. (Getty)
FM Nirmala Sitharaman, who will present the Union Budget on Tuesday, is expected to announce the ministry's plans in her speech to bring India's roads up to international standards and improve logistics speed
News18 has learned that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has almost completed its Vision 2047, which plans to build multi-lane and access-controlled highways across the country covering an area of 100-200 kilometers.
The goal of “Vision 2047” is to bring India's roads up to international standards, increase logistics speed, and thereby reduce logistics costs. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is expected to present the 2024 Union Budget on Tuesday, will announce this in her speech.
The basic idea, according to an official familiar with the details, is to give India a new-age highway that can be used for a longer period of time and won't become irrelevant in a few years.
“We planned and built a highway, and even before it was launched, new markets and residential areas were built around the stretch. Soon we were getting bypass requests, and then we were getting requests again, and the problems never ended ,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The solution found by the ministry is that it should focus on roads with controlled access, they added. No matter what is built around the access pipe, it will not affect traffic flow due to the crowds of people around it. The official added that those wishing to take the expressway can use the service lane.
“Until now, the selection of access-controlled roads has been based on efficiency – roads where heavy traffic is expected. Now, this will no longer be the case,” they added.
A 200 x 200 kilometer grid will be drawn on the map and an attempt will be made to have at least one national road in each neighbourhood. The idea is to build 50,000 kilometers of access-controlled highways by 2047.
While the Department of Transportation is ending the concept of two-lane highways, it will also experiment with access control on four-lane highways. This will also ensure logistics efficiency.
The “Vision 2047” is in line with the goals set by the country that year. For any country to develop, the road is an important parameter and should be able to maintain the economy.
Currently, the ministry is affected by slow awards since the last financial year. Project awards under Bharatmala-1 were also affected for almost a year.
The ministry hopes Vision 2047 will spur the awarding of new projects.
The department performed exceptionally well on real capital spending, including private investment, last financial year. In the financial year 2023-24, the real capital expenditure of the Highways Ministry is over Rs 300 crore.
Last fiscal year, the ministry received its highest-ever allocation of Rs 264 crore and successfully spent 99.93% of it. This is the second time that the ministry has successfully used 99% of its allocated budget. Also in 2022-23, the ministry managed to spend 99.18% of the capital expenditure.
In 2023-24, the ministry built a total of 12,349 kilometers of national highways, much more than the previous two years. This is the second best character in the history of the franchise. The highest mileage was 13,327 km achieved during the Covid-19 induced lockdown in 2020-21.
