India's Road Network Ranks Second Globally, Overtaking China, says Union Minister
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari announced in a press conference that India has now secured the second position, following the United States, for having the largest road network worldwide. Gadkari highlighted the achievements of his ministry during his tenure, emphasizing that India surpassed China by expanding its road network by 1.45 lakh kilometres since 2014.
Over the past nine years, India has made significant additions to its road infrastructure, including the construction of several greenfield expressways. Notably, the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, the longest expressway in India, is nearing completion under the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Gadkari mentioned that India's road network was only 91,287 kilometres nine years ago, but through the diligent efforts of NHAI, numerous national highways and expressways have been constructed. Since April 2019, NHAI has successfully completed over 30,000 kilometres of highways across the country, including vital expressways such as the Delhi-Meerut and Lucknow-Ghazipur routes in Uttar Pradesh.
Furthermore, Gadkari highlighted NHAI's notable achievements during this period, including setting seven world records. In May of this year, NHAI accomplished the remarkable feat of constructing 100 kilometres of new expressway within 100 hours while building the Ghaziabad-Aligarh Expressway. Additionally, in August of last year, NHAI set a Guinness World Record by constructing a continuous 75-kilometre single bituminous concrete road between Amravati and Akola on NH-53 in a record time of 105 hours and 33 minutes.
During the press conference, Gadkari also emphasized the increased revenue generated from toll collection under his tenure. He mentioned that toll collection has risen from ₹4,770 crore nine years ago to ₹41,342 crore. The government aims to further increase toll revenue to ₹1.30 lakh crore. Gadkari highlighted the positive impact of FASTags, which have significantly reduced long queues at toll plazas. The average time spent by vehicles at toll plazas has been reduced to 47 seconds, and the ministry is striving to reduce it further to below 30 seconds shortly.
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