Mr. Gupta detailed the current status of India’s road network and its maintenance:“The total length of the road network in India is 4.69 million km. It is the second largest road
network in the world, just after the United States. ….. The national highways constitute 82,000
kilometers, 1.7 percent of the total length, and carry 40 percent of the total traffic.”“65 percent of total traffic and 90 percent of passenger traffic are being serviced by roads.
The corresponding figures in the 1950s were 12 percent and 31.6 percent. The compoundedannual growth rate of traffic on roads during the last two decades has been 9 percent.
Road maintenance, however, is not commensurate with the traffic growth rate.”“The Indian Constitution assigns responsibility for the national highway network to the central
government while State governments are responsible for developing and maintaining thestate highways, major district roads, other district roads, and village roads. ….. The Ministry ofRoad Transport & Highways is the apex organization in the road sector in the country
responsible for the planning, development, and maintenance of the national highways. It
extends technical and financial support to state governments for the development of stateroads, the connectivity of roads of interest and economic importance; it evolves thestandards and specifications for roads and bridges in the country.”“Several road development programs are being implemented in the country. The first, theNational Highway Development Program, is one of the world's largest road development
programs. It comprises seven phases of development of more than 55,000 km of national
highways; of which 21,000 km of road length has already been completed.”“Another is the Rural Road Development Program fully funded by the central government tosupplement the efforts of the state governments in the construction and maintenance of therural road network. It comprises an action plan for the construction of 350,000 kilometers ofroads. With the creation of large growth assets, simultaneous requirements for maintenancealso emerge. Lastly, the necessary expenditure of resources is accomplished with continuingemphasis on economic development.”“Maintenance categorization being adopted in India is compatible with the conventional
international practice of dividing into routine, periodic, and emergency activities. ….. Thebalancing of routine maintenance activities along with the regular program of periodic
maintenance and prompt response to emergencies makes it effective. ….. To improve
efficiency, several road administrations have started to contract out more and more of theroad maintenance activities to the private sector.”“We have carried out road user cost studies that have brought out some eye-opening
conclusions about the economic losses on account of the poor maintenance of roads. …..
India has adopted PPP policy in a big way. These projects contain a built-in mechanism forthe operation and maintenance of the roads for a period 30 years. ….. “Regarding ruralroads, the contractor who builds the road has a five-year maintenance responsibility. ….. The
government of India has recently adopted a new policy initiative for operate, maintenance,transfer (OMT) contracts where concessions are given to contractors for 5 to 9 years with theresponsibility for maintenance.”“The road ahead for our country is the introduction of an intelligent transport system for animproved driving experience, road safety, and transport management, and the adoption ofglobal best practices. India is aiming for a road maintenance system that minimizes
investment, maximizes cost efficiency, reduces losses for the users, and is energy-efficient.