Lok Sabha Question No. 401 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-11-17
Subject: Proliferation of Vehicles on National Highways
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Shrirang Appa Barne, ANANDRAO  ADSUL, SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, DHARMENDRA YADAV

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 401

ANSWERED ON 17 TH  NOVEMBER, 2016

## PROLIFERATION OF VEHICLES ON NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

401.  SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL: SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO: SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS सडक परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

be pleased to state:

- (a) the percentage of traffic on National Highways (NHs) to the total road traffic in the country;
- (b) whether construction of highways has gained pace during the last two years but that is not commensurate with the  increase in  the  number  of  vehicles,  if  so,  the  details  of  percentage  of highways construction against increased number of vehicles;
- (c) whether the Transport Research Wing of the Union Government has released a report titled 'Basic Road Statistics of India, in the month of September, if so, the salient features of the report; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to regulate the number of vehicles and accelerate the work of highway construction?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## (SHRI PON. RADHAKRISHNAN)

- (a) and (b) The  Ministry  is  primarily  responsible  for  development  and  maintenance  of National Highways (NHs). The total length of NHs at present is about 1, 03, 613 km. Further, about 47,890 km length of State roads have been approved In-Principle as new NHs subject to outcome of their Detailed Project Reports (DPRs). The existing NHs comprise of about 1.9 % of total  road  network,  but  carry  about  40%  of  total  road  traffic.  The  total  number  of  registered vehicles in the country increased from about 17.6 crore as on 31.03.2013 to about 21 crore as on 31.03.2015.  During the years 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16, about 4,260 km, 4,410 km and 6,061 km length of NHs have been developed respectively.
- (c) The latest issue of Basic Road Statistics of India (2013-14 and 2014-15) published by the Transport Research Wing (TRW) of the Ministry in September, 2016 include details such as the length of various categories of roads, their percentage share in total road length, etc. The report contains information upto 31 st March, 2015. The salient features of the Report is at Annexure-I.
- (d) The State Governments are concerned with regulation of the number of vehicles in the States. The steps taken by the Government to accelerate the work of highway construction is at Annexure-II.

ANNEXURE REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (c)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  401  ANSWERED  ON  17.11.2016  ASKED  BY  SHRI  SHRIRANG  APPA BARNE AND OTHERS REGARDING PROLIFERATION OF VEHICLES ON NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

## The salient features of the Basic Road Statistics of India (2013-14 and 2014-15)

## (a) Category-wise distribution of Roads as on 31.03.2015

| Category of Road        | As on 31 st March 2015   | As on 31 st March 2015         |
|-------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------------|
|                         | Length of Road (km)      | Share in total road length (%) |
| National Highways (NHs) | 97,991                   | 1.79                           |
| State Highways (SHs)    | 1,67,109                 | 3.05                           |
| Other PWD (OPWD) Roads  | 11,01,178                | 20.12                          |
| Rural Roads             | 33,37,255                | 61.0                           |
| Urban Roads             | 4,67,106                 | 8.54                           |
| Project Roads           | 3,01,505                 | 5.50                           |
| Total                   | 54,72,144                | 100.00                         |

- (b) The  total  road  length  of  the  country  increased  at  a  Compound  Annual  Growth  Rate (CAGR) of 4.2% up to 2015 from 1951.
- (c) The five States with the largest road networks (excluding Jawahar Rozgar Yojana roads), viz. Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka West Bengal and Assam accounted for about 43.04 % as on 31 st March 2015 in the total road length of the country.
- (d) As  on  31 st March  2015,  India's  road  density  at  1.66  kms/sq.km  of  area  was  higher than that of Japan (0.91 km/ sq km), USA (0.67 km/ sq km), China (0.46 km/ sq. km), Brazil (0.18 km/sq.km) and Russian Federation (0.08 km/ sq km)
- (e) NHs in India, which accounted for 1.79 % of the total length as on 31 st March, 2015 was much lower  than  that  of  some  of  the  developed  countries  of  the  world  such  as  Japan,  Korea Republic, Russian Federation, UK and Brazil.

ANNEXURE REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  401  ANSWERED  ON  17.11.2016  ASKED  BY  SHRI  SHRIRANG  APPA BARNE AND OTHERS REGARDING PROLIFERATION OF VEHICLES ON NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

## Steps taken to accelerate the work of highway construction

Regular meetings are held with project developers, State Governments and contractors  in Head  Quarter  by  Ministry  with  Regional  Officers,  concessionaires  /contractors  to  make  the construction of projects hassle free. To expedite completion of highways projects, various steps have been taken which include streamlining of land acquisition & environment clearances, exit for  equity  investors,  premium  re-schedulement,  close  coordination  with  other  Ministries, revamping of dispute resolution mechanism, frequent reviews at various levels etc. Further, The Government  has  taken  major  initiatives  towards  expediting  implementation  of  languishing projects. The various measures taken include:

## Environment and Forest Clearance

-  Delegation of powers to Regional Offices by Ministry of Environment and Forest.
-  EC (Environment Clearance) not required for length of 100 km. Even beyond 100 Km, EC is not required if widening is restricted to 40m and realignment to 60m.

## ROBs (Rail Over Bridge) / RUBs (Rail Under Bridge):

The  procedure  for  GAD  (General  Arrangement  Drawing)  approved  by  Railways  for ROBs has been simplified and made online.  Maintenance charges which were hampering the progress of many projects, stand waived by Railways.  Standard design have been put on website.

## Financial initiatives

-  Loan secured to the extent of termination payment.
-  Infrastructure debt fund - Long term financing at low interest rates
-  Reschedulement of premium - Bank Rate+2%.
-  100% exit after 2 years of completion in projects awarded before 2009.
-  Fund infusion by NHAI in stalled projects where the physical progress is 50% and the concessionaire is facing shortage of funds.
-  NHAI liberally permitting refinance with elongation of repayment period. RBI (Reserve Bank of India) has also issued circular for providing long term debt finance matching the concession period without classifying the exposure as restructured.

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