Delhi Dialogues | Highways function as economic corridor
East Delhi BJP MP Harsh Malhotra speaks to editors of TNIE about the pace of road infrastructure expansion in the country. The Union MoS of Road Transport, Highways and Corporate Affairs answers a range of questions uppermost in peoples minds. Excerpts: We always hear that there are a lot of initiatives to improve quality of road matching international standards. How much success have we achieved? The progress achieved over the past decade represents a structural shift rather than incremental change. For nearly 65 years after Independence, India built around 92,000km of national highways. In contrast, over the last 11 years, the national highway network has expanded to approximately 1.46 lakh km, significantly improving connectivity across regions, including some of the countrys most remote areas. The transformation is not limited to length alone but also to pace and quality. Before 2014, highway construction progressed at an average speed of about 12 km a day. Today, that figure stands at nearly 32 km per day. At the same time, systematic widening has upgraded two-lane roads to four-lane roads and four-lane highways to six-lane highways, improving safety, speed, and capacity. The length of high-speed corridors has increased to around 2,500 km of expressways. How has the governments focus on road connectivity, especially in Northeast, boosted economic growth, employment, and rural market access? Special emphasis has been placed on Northeast, a region historically underserved by infrastructure. The expansion of railways to the farthest corners and the development of the Frontier Highway, connecting Manipur to Moreh on the Myanmar border, reflect this renewed focus. Beyond connectivity, every rupee invested in highways generates nearly three rupees in GDP, making roads one of the most powerful drivers of economic growth. In the last five years, road construction has created 550 crore man-days of employment, including direct, indirect and induced jobs. Rural connectivity has been transformative. Nearly 65% of population still lives in villages, many of which produce perishable goods. Earlier, poor roads meant that milk, fruits, and vegetables took 14-16 hours to reach markets, often resulting in spoilage and low returns. Through the Pradhan Mantri Gramin Sadak Yojana, over 7 lakh km of rural roads have been built in the last 11 years, compared to 3.5 lakh km in the previous 65 years. As a result, no village is now more than 100 km away from a major road, and farm produce can reach markets within 3-4 hours. Highways today function as economic corridors. Industrial zones, markets, ports, and railways are increasingly integrated with road networks, creating transport hubs that improve logistics and reduce costs. What is the rate of road accidents? This is a big concern. How can we make road travel safe? Road safety remains a major concern, with speeding the leading cause of accidents. We have a multi-layered strategy: eliminating accident-prone dark spots, deploying AI in highway design, and integrating smart traffic management systems. More than 14,000 dark spots, defined as locations with 10 or more fatalities annually, have been corrected. Emergency response has expanded. A 247 helpline, over 4,000 ambulances on national highways, and free treatment up to `1.5 lakh for accident victims aim to reduce fatalities. While you are expanding expressways and generating revenue, what steps are being taken to improve roadside amenities? Modern highways must serve people, not just vehicles. Wayside amenities at 90-km intervals now include fuel stations, EV charging stations, toilets, food courts, truck driver dormitories, and bathing facilities. These are long-term leases. Maintenance and cleanliness are built into the model. For transporters, reduced travel time translates directly into profit. The Delhi-Mumbai Expressway will cut travel from 34 hours to 13-14 hours. When fuel is saved, pollution is reduced and productivity is doubled. Apple has challenged a penalty imposed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI). What is the status of the digital competition framework? The CCI will prevent monopolisation. A separate digital competition framework is under consultation, with a deeper study underway to ensure robustness. I emphasise regulatory simplification. The MCA portal, launched in 2017, reduced the time to company incorporation from up to 100 days to under 48 hours. Eleven mandatory registrations are now bundled, enabling companies to operate immediately. Voluntary strike-off processes have been automated, with fixed timelines and deemed approvals. A single-window system now integrates clearances across ministries and states.
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