India building road and rail infrastructure to achieve single digit logistic cost target by 2030, report
NH network in the country increased from about 91,287 km in March, 2014 to about 1,46,145 km at present with focus on development of High-Speed Access Controlled Corridors and 4 Lane Road network
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs). NH network in the country has increased from about 91,287 km in March, 2014 to about 1,46,145 km at present.
Ministry has laid focus on development of High-Speed Access Controlled Corridors and 4 Lane Road network in order to contribute towards development of economy through improved logistics efficiency. Length of 4 Lane plus NH network including High Speed Corridors has increased from about 18,371 km in March, 2014 to about 46,179 km so far. Project implementation has already been started on 21 green field access-controlled corridors including expressways in which work in about 3,336 km length has been completed.
Ministry has also emphasized on minimising less than 2 Lane NHs by upgrading these to Minimum 2 Lane / 2 Lane with Paved Shoulder. Accordingly, length of less than 2 Lane NHs has decreased from about 27,517 km in March, 2014 to about 14,870 km so far.
Ministry has identified 35 Multimodal Logistics Parks (MMLPs) for development as part of BMP to improve logistics efficiency to the Indian economy. 15 MMLPs have been prioritized for development under BMP-I.
Capital expenditure incurred by Ministry has been significantly increased from about Rs. 51,000 Crore in 2013-14 to more than Rs. 2,40,000 Crore in 2022-23 leading to country’s economic boost and early achievement of five trillion dollar economy of the country.
Ministry has also undertaken green initiatives by planting about 3.46 core trees since 2016, besides utilizing municipal waste for embankment construction, waste plastics in Bituminous construction and waste slag in Cement Concrete Construction towards carbon neutrality and sustainable development.
Key strategies adopted/employed to achieve the above remarkable growth and achievements of NH network in the country undertaken by Ministry are as under: -
i.Ministry resolved the inherited stalled projects (stalled projects till 2013-14) by close monitoring at the highest levels and also by suitable policy interventions like one time fund infusion, substitution, termination & repackaging etc.
ii.Promoting Contractor’s Ecosystem by rationalising the projects and contract documents
iii.All project planning including preparation of DPR mandated on PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) Portal
iv.Awarding projects after adequate preparation in terms of land acquisition and preconstruction activities
v.Simplified procedure for approval of GAD (General Arrangement Drawing) by Railways
vi.Streamlining land acquisition process
vii.Adoption of new technologies and continuously upgrading the standards and specifications
viii.Raising resources from innovative financing models etc.
ix.Relaxations in contract provisions under "Atmanirbhar Bharat" to improve liquidity of funds
x.Revamped dispute resolution mechanism
xi.Portal based project monitoring leading to early resolution of issues
xii.Periodic reviews of projects at various levels
This information was given by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha today.
CONSTRUCTION OF EASTERN DEDICATED FREIGHT CORRIDOR FULLY COMPLETED
1176 KM OUT OF 1506 KM OF WDFC COMPLETED
Ministry of Railways has taken up construction of two Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs) viz. Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar (1337 Km) and the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from Jawaharlal Nehru Port Terminal (JNPT) to Dadri (1506 Km). Construction of EDFC has been fully completed and 1176 KM out of 1506 KM of WDFC has been completed.
The construction of Dedicated Freight Corridors will reduce the logistic cost, leading to development of new industrial hubs and Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals.
This information was given by the Minister of Railways, Communications and Electronic & Information Technology, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.