Highway Projects

Building India’s highways is set to become more expensive after the road transport ministry mandated that service roads and slip roads must be built to the same standards as main carriageways. While the new guidelines aim to improve safety, they will also push up project costs.

India’s highway programme requires massive capital. But with the National Highways Authority of India’s high debt load and government budget support reaching its limits, the Centre is turning to a new financial vehicle: infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs).

FASTag has transformed from a simple toll payment system into a powerful tool for data-driven governance in India’s highway sector, shaping the future of traffic management and highway development.

India is adopting Swiss road design technology to enhance the resilience of its mountainous highways, which frequently suffer damage from extreme weather events. This initiative targets 50 critical black spots, aiming to bolster connectivity and infrastructure safety in vulnerable hilly regions.

India is planning a sequel to the Golden Quadrilateral—an ambitious network of high-speed expressways linking major economic centres. The new grid aims to ease congestion, cut logistics costs, and boost connectivity as part of the government’s Vision 2047 infrastructure push.

In a bid to attract pvt investors, the govt plans to provide tolling rights for alternate roads alongside new greenfield highways. This approach aims to mitigate risks related to traffic fluctuations, ensuring revenue stability for highway concessionaires and enhancing the overall infra development.

A tunnel between central Delhi and Gurugram can cut the travel time by road from around an hour—depending upon the time of day—to only 10-15 minutes, said Nitin Gadkari.