Lok Sabha Question No. 3994 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-12-19
Subject: Green National Highways Corridor Project
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Smt. Bharti Pardhi, Shri Arvind Ganpat Sawant, Shri Shrirang Appa Chandu Barne

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3994 ANSWERED ON 19 th  December, 2024

## GREEN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS CORRIDOR PROJECT

3994.  SHRI ARVIND GANPAT SAWANT: SMT. BHARTI PARDHI: SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE:

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

be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Union Government and World Bank have signed a MoU for implementation of the Green National Highways Corridor Project, if so, the details along with the objectives of the MoU thereof;
- (b) the  details  of  the  highways  covered  till  October,  2024  under  the Green Highway Mission, State-wise particularly in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh;
- (c) whether  the  Union  Government  has  undertaken  any  research  to monitor  environmental  footprint  of  the  greenhouse  gases  on  national highways, if so, the details thereof;
- (d) whether the Union Government have taken any steps to replace the use of diesel in road construction with CNG or LNG; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof and the time by which replacement work is targeted to be completed?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a) Yes, Sir. The Government of India and the World Bank have signed an agreement for the construction of Green National Highways Corridor Project (GNHCP)  in  an  aggregate  length  of  781  km  in  the  states  of  Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, with loan assistance  of  US  $  500  million  against  total  project  cost  of  US  $  1288 million (Rs. 7,662 crore). The objective of the GNHCP is to demonstrate safe and  green  highway  keeping  in  view  climate  resilience  and  use  of  green technologies  by  incorporating  the  provisions  of  conservation  of  natural resources using cement treated sub base/reclaimed asphalt pavement, use of  local/  marginal  material  such  as  lime,  fly  ash,  waste  plastic,  bioengineering measures for slope protection such as hydroseeding, coco/jute fibre etc., to bring Green technologies into the mainstream.
- (b) The guidelines of Indian Roads Congress on Green Highways (Plantation,  Transplantation,  Beautification  &  Maintenance)  Policy,  2015 stipulates  planting  the  plants/trees  on  National  Highways  as  per  the availability of space in Right of Way. Since promulgation of Green Highways Policy,  465.42  lakh  plants  have  been planted on the National Highways in the country. In Maharashtra, 40.17 lakh plants and in Madhya Pradesh, 43.53 lakh plants have been planted from 2015-16 to 2024-25 (till 15 November, 2024). The State-wise information is attached as Annexure-I.
- (c) Yes  Sir.  The  Government  has  published  a  study  'An  assessment  of avoided CO2 emissions during construction, maintenance and operation of National  Highways'  in  2023  based  on  the  data  from  20  NH  stretches extending to a length of 2191.5 kms, to estimate the potential CO2 that can be avoided by the NH. The summary of the report is attached at Annexure-II.
- (d)  to  (e)  Yes  Sir.  In  order  to  facilitate  the  development  of  motor  vehicles running on non-fossil fuels, the Government has notified emission norms of agricultural  tractors,  power  tillers,  construction  equipment  vehicles  and combine harvesters driven by dual fuel diesel with Compressed Natural Gas or Bio-Compressed Natural Gas or Liquefied Natural Gas engines.

Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (b) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3994 FOR 19-12-2024 ASKED BY  SHRI  ARVIND  GANPAT  SAWANT,  SMT.  BHARTI  PARDHI  and  SHRI  SHRIRANG  APPA  CHANDU  BARNE  REGARDING GREEN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS CORRIDOR PROJECT

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| 13          | Madhya Pradesh    | 0.49   | 2.31        |   5.3 |   1.78 |   2.16 |   3.94 |   2.25 |   3.52 5.77 |       |   5.05 |   5.13 |   10.18 |   3.11 |   3.93 |   7.04 4.19 |   4.30 |   8.49 |   43.53 |
|-------------|-------------------|--------|-------------|-------|--------|--------|--------|--------|-------------|-------|--------|--------|---------|--------|--------|-------------|--------|--------|---------|
| 14          | Maharashtra       | 7.46   | 0.64 4.62   |  1.82 |   2.4  |   4.22 |   3.23 |   4.74 |        7.97 |  2.69 |   3.34 |   6.04 |    2.71 |   2.54 |   5.25 |        1.7  |   2.28 |   3.98 |   40.17 |
| 15          | Odisha            | 2.91   | 2.04 1.73   |  1.84 |   1.06 |   2.9  |   2.43 |   1.35 |        3.78 |  1.88 |   1.52 |   3.4  |    1.23 |   1.45 |   2.68 |        0.68 |   1.82 |   2.51 |   21.95 |
| 16          | Punjab            | 3.98   | 0 1.98      |  2.55 |   2.26 |   4.81 |   2.15 |   0.81 |        2.96 |  1.12 |   1.34 |   2.45 |    1.33 |   1    |   2.33 |        1.55 |   2.81 |   4.36 |   22.88 |
| 17          | Rajasthan         | 8.1    | 1.52 2.07   |  3.16 |   1.63 |   4.79 |   4.17 |   5.28 |        9.45 |  7.29 |   5.16 |  12.46 |    2.81 |   5.29 |   8.1  |        2.05 |   2.14 |   4.19 |   50.67 |
| 18          | Tamil Nadu        | 6.44   | 1.82 2.92   |  1.19 |   1.67 |   2.86 |   0.93 |   1.54 |        2.47 |  1.03 |   1.52 |   2.55 |    1.27 |   1.35 |   2.62 |        1.93 |   1.03 |   2.95 |   24.63 |
| 19          | Telangana         | 3.09   | 0.18 0.59   |  1.76 |   1.51 |   3.27 |   0.64 |   1.54 |        2.18 |  0.65 |   2.09 |   2.74 |    0.36 |   0.39 |   0.74 |        0.22 |   0.41 |   0.63 |   13.43 |
| 20          | Uttar Pradesh6.74 |        | 3.8 3.56    |  1.76 |   4.55 |   6.31 |   1.67 |   3.75 |        5.41 |  3.25 |   3.02 |   6.27 |    2.8  |   2.02 |   4.81 |        1.97 |   1.34 |   3.31 |   40.22 |
| 21          | Uttarakhand       | 0      | 0.52 0.15   |  0.64 |   1.46 |   2.1  |   1.4  |   0.73 |        2.12 |  0.7  |   0.53 |   1.23 |    0.38 |   0.18 |   0.56 |        0.27 |   0.1  |   0.37 |    7.06 |
| 22          | West Bengal       | 3.85   | 1.03 1.2    |  1.46 |   1.59 |   3.04 |   1.64 |   0.74 |        2.38 |  1.87 |   0.51 |   2.37 |    1.2  |   0.53 |   1.72 |        0.5  |   0.54 |   1.04 |   16.64 |
| Grand Total |                   | 76.27  | 31.27 36.22 | 26.58 |  32.29 |  58.87 |  31.58 |  40.47 |       72.05 | 35.99 |  35.53 |  71.52 |   26.96 |  29.12 |  56.08 |       31.44 |  31.7  |  63.14 |  465.42 |

Annexure-II

ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO.  3994  FOR  19-12-2024  ASKED  BY  SHRI  ARVIND  GANPAT SAWANT, SMT. BHARTI PARDHI and SHRI SHRIRANG APPA CHANDU BARNE REGARDING GREEN NATIONAL HIGHWAYS CORRIDOR PROJECT

The report presents a methodology for assessing the extent of CO2 that can be  avoided  per  km  of  operational  highways.  Data  from  20  NH  stretches together extending to a length of 2,191.5 kms and located in India's diverse climate zones and topography have been applied to estimate the potential CO2 that can be avoided by the NH. Of the 20 NH stretches considered, 5 are Greenfield  and  15  are  brownfield.  The  result  of  this  assessment  indicates that:

1.  Construction  of  all  20  stretches  together  have  led  to  an  emission  of 5,716.66 thousand tonnes of CO2 and maintenance has led to an emission of 1,164.68 thousand t CO2.
2. Felling of trees outside forests and removal of forests done to pave the way  for  construction  of  the  highways  has  led  to  the  emission  of  652.60 thousand t CO2.
3. Fuel consumption by vehicles would have been 50.96 billion liters in a 20 year period if BAU conditions of highways persisted. In the BAU case, the share of petrol in the total fuel consumption would have been 17-19% and diesel share would have been 81-83%.
4. In the Improvement case, when the new highways are operational, it is estimated that the total fuel consumption would be about 41.16 billion liters in  a  20  year  period.  This  amount  of  consumption  is  less  by  19%  or  9.77 billion  liters  of  fuel  is  saved  in  the  improvement  case  as compared to the BAU case.
5. In the total fuel savings, share of petrol will be about 7% and rest will be share of diesel. The major savings will be 53% and 23% by MCVs and HCVs respectively.
6. For the 20 NH stretches, the savings in petrol range from 2% to 21%, and diesel  saving  ranges  from  1%  to  42%.  This  variation  is  mainly  due  to variable  conditions  of  the  highways  vis  a  vis  their  road  characteristics (width,  roughness  etc.)  and  wide  ranging  traffic  volumes  and  share  of different vehicle types. 7. Therefore due to vehicles plying on the newly constructed and improved highways, it is estimated that in a 20 year period about 25.19 million tonnes of CO2 will be avoided along the entire 2,191.54 kms of NH stretches, which is equivalent to an avoidance of 11,493 tonnes of CO2 per km in 20 years. (a). In case of Greenfield Highways improvements, the CO2 avoidance in 20 years can be of the order of 10,167 tonnes per km whereas (b). Improvements of Brownfield Highways can result in about 11,936 tonnes per km of CO2 avoidance. 8. It is estimated that the avenue plantations and compensatory afforestation (CA) done post construction of the highways together potentially  can  sequester  584.27  thousand  tonnes  of  CO2  over  a  20  year period. 9. Adding up the CO2 emissions and sequestrations streams across all the stretches considered that together extend to a total of 2,191.54 kms, it is estimated that potentially 18,236.62 thousand tonnes of CO2 over a 20 year period can be avoided. This is equivalent to a potential avoidance of 8321 tonnes CO2 per km. 10. Based on standard assumptions, it is estimated that a total of 18,237.31 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions avoided across 2191.54 kms of NH in a 20-year period is equivalent to CO2 sequestered by 45.14 million trees. 11. A total of 77,265 kms of national highway has been constructed till date since 2014 which can together potentially avoid 32.15 million tonnes of CO2 annually and 642.95 million tons of CO2 cumulatively in next 20 years. This is equivalent to CO2 sequestration by 31,826 million trees.

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