Lok Sabha Question No. 724 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-12-04
Subject: Development and Maintenance of National Highways
Ministry: ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS
Asked by: Shri Anup Sanjay Dhotre

be pleased to state:

- (a)  the  current  length  of  National  Highways  (NHs)  constructed  and under construction;
- (b)  the  manner  in  which  the  Government  is  ensuring  the  timely completion of highway projects;
- (c) the measures taken to improve road safety on NHs;
- (d) the manner in which technology is being integrated for better traffic management; and
- (e)  the  initiatives  being  taken  to  improve  connectivity  in  remote  and border areas?

## ANSWER

THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

(SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI)

- (a) Total length of National Highways (NHs) constructed during current financial  year  2025-26  is  about  4073 km  till  November,2025.  A  total length of about 13,900 km is currently under construction.

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO - 724 ANSWERED ON 04 th  DECEMBER 2025

## DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

724. SHRI ANUP SANJAY DHOTRE:

## Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS

सड़क परिवहन औि िाजमार्ग मंत्री

- b) In order to ensure timely completion of NH projects, the Government has  undertaken  various  initiatives.  These  include  streamlining  and expediting  land  acquisition  using  'Bhoomirashi'  portal  and  GIS-based Land Acquisition Plan, revamping 'Parivesh' Portal through Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to facilitate faster forest and environmental clearances, enabling online approval of General Arrangement of Drawings (GAD) of Road Over Bridge/Road Under Bridge (ROB/RUB) from the Railways, and leveraging the mechanism of review and resolution of bottlenecks / hindrances in ongoing projects, in active collaboration  with  the  State  Governments  and  other  stakeholders. Government  has  also  launched  a  web  portal  for  Railway  related clearances with defined timelines for various approvals.

The  Government  has  put  in  place  a  strong  framework  using multiple  mechanisms  for  monitoring  project  progress  and  contractor inefficiencies. Regular review meetings are conducted at various levels with  stakeholders  to  assess  project  progress,  and  critical  projects, such as those delayed by more than three years or pending for award / appointment.

Many  State  Governments  conduct  coordination  meetings  led  by the  Chief  Secretary  to  resolve  issues  affecting  project  execution. Projects  where  issues  remain  unresolved  are  escalated  for  further review through the Project Monitoring Group and through 'PRAGATI'.

- (c)  All NHs works are carried out as per standards, guidelines, manual, code of practice of Indian Roads Congress as well as specifications for Road  and  Bridge  Works.  Indian  Road  Congress  (IRC)  Guidelines  have been issued for regular safety audit of all NHs at design, construction, pre-opening  stage  of  NH  projects  as  well  as  on  existing  NHs  for ensuring road safety.

Rectification of black spots is a continuous process and temporary measures are taken on immediate basis. Out of total 13,795 blackspots identified  on  National  Highways  (NHs)  in  the  country,  short-term rectification  has  been  completed  on  11,866  black  spots.  Long-term rectification measures, as recommended by road safety audit reports, are  implemented  only  at  locations  deemed  necessary.  Accordingly, long-term measures have been completed at 5,324 black spots, while 3,719 black spots have been assessed as not requiring such long-term interventions.

Long term rectification works includes improvement of road geometrics,  junction  improvements,  spot  widening  of  carriageway, construction of underpasses/overpasses, etc. which involve preconstruction  activities  such  as  land  acquisition,  forest  clearance  & utility shifting which takes significant time. Electronic Detailed Accident  Report  System  has  been  launched through  which  accident spots  on  NHs  are  noticed  immediately.  Accordingly  such  spots  are visited immediately by field officers and appropriate short term measures are taken.

In order to reduce the fatality of accident victims, Government has planned pan India launch of the Scheme for Cashless Treatment of Road Accident  Victims,  as  per  the  legal  mandate  of  Section  162  of  Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. The Scheme  is aimed at strengthening the emergency  care ecosystem  to provide timely treatment to road accident  victims  and  prevent  loss  of  precious  lives.  The  Scheme  for Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims is presently implemented on  pilot  basis  across  6  States  /  UTs,  namely,  Chandigarh,  Assam, Punjab,  Uttarakhand,  Haryana  and  Puducherry  for  acclimatization  of field officials.

- i. Further,  Government  has  formulated  a  multi-pronged  strategy  to address the issue of road safety based on Education, Engineering (both  of  roads  and  vehicles),  Enforcement  and  Emergency  Care. Details of various initiatives taken to address road safety issues are at Annexure.
2. (d) Technology  is  being  increasingly  integrated  into  road  traffic management to improve safety, efficiency, and real-time monitoring. In order to strengthen the enforcement of traffic rules for ensuring traffic

management in the country, the Government brings amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act from time to time. In accordance with the provisions of  the  Motor  Vehicles  (Amendment)  Act,  2019,  Government  published rules in August 2021 for Electronic Monitoring and Enforcement of Road Safety  at  high-risk  and  high-density  corridors  on  National  Highways, State Highways and at critical junctions in cities having a population of more than one million in the country. Enforcement of these rules comes under the purview of the State / Union Territory (UT) Governments.

Additionally,  The  Government  has  taken  up  installation  of  Region-wise implementation Advanced  Traffic  Management  System  (ATMS) for National roll out in Four lane and above NHs in phased manner. ATMS has provisions for various electronic enforcement devices, including AI based  Video Incident Detection, for surveillance of the  highway stretches,  which  help  in  speedy  identification  of  incidents  (including traffic violations) on the highway stretches and effectively monitor the highways,  thereby  improving  incident  response  time  and  road  safety. Five ATMS  projects on pilot basis have been taken up by the Government on key high density highway corridors.

- (e) The development and maintenance of NHs is a continuous process and works on all NHs, including development / capacity augmentation works on NHs inter-alia including providing connectivity to remote and border  areas,  are  taken  up  based  on  traffic  density,  connectivity requirement, condition of the road, inter-se priority and synergy with PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP). At present, 1,208 NHs projects in about 28,000 km  costing about ₹7.70 Lakh Crore are under construction  in  the  country.  This  also  includes  development  works  in 4,522 km in border areas. Additionally, the Government has also taken up  development  of  network  of  ropeways  for  improvement  of  first  and last  mile  connectivity,  accessibility,  public  convenience  in  remote areas.

## ANNEXURE

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (c) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 724 ANSWERED ON 04.12.2025 ASKED BY SHRI ANUP SANJAY DHOTRE REGARDING DEVELOPMENT AND

MAINTENANCE OF NATIONAL HIGHWAYS

Details  of  various  initiatives  taken  by  MoRTH  to  address  road  safety issues: -

## (A)      Education:

- i. Administers  Road  Safety  Advocacy  Scheme  to  provide  financial assistance to various agencies for raising awareness about road safety and for administering road safety programs.
- ii. Observance of National Road Safety Month every year for spreading awareness and strengthening road safety.
- iii. Administers  a  scheme  for  setting  up  of  Institutes  of  Driving Training  &  Research  (IDTRs),  Regional  Driving  Training  Centres (RDTCs) and Driving Training Centres (DTCs) at State/District level across the country.
4. (B)      Engineering:

## B.1.    Road Engineering:

- i. Road Safety Audit (RSA) of all National Highways (NHs) has been made mandatory through third party auditors/ experts at all stages i.e. design, construction, operation and maintenance etc.
- ii. High  priority  is  accorded  to  identification  and  rectification  of black spots /accident spots on NHs.
- iii. Road Safety Officer (RSO) has been designated at each Regional Office of road owning agencies to look after RSA and other road safety related works.
- iv. Administers the electronic Detailed Accident Report (e-DAR) Project to establish a central repository for reporting, management  and  analysis  of  road  accidents  data  across  the Country.
- v. Issued  guidelines  for  the  provision  of  signages  on  Expressways and  National  Highways  to  offer  improved  visibility  and  intuitive guidance to the drivers.
- vi. Provisions  have  been  made  in  the  Motor  Vehicles  Act,  1988  for failure to comply with standards for the road design, construction and maintenance, as prescribed by the Central Government from time to time.

## B.2    Vehicle Engineering:

Various initiatives to make vehicles safer, including the following:-

- i. Mandatory provision of an airbag for the passenger seated on the front seat of a vehicle, next to the driver.
- ii. Prescribed  norms  related  to  safety  measures  for  children  below four years of age, riding or being carried on a motor cycle. It also specifies  use  of  a  safety  harness,  crash  helmet  and  restricts speed to 40kmph.
- iii. Mandatory provisions for fitment of following listed safety technologies: -

## For M1 category vehicles:

- a.
- Seat Belt Reminder (SBR) for driver and co-driver.
- b.
- Manual Override for central locking system
- c. Over speed warning system.

## For all M and N category vehicles:

- a. Reverse Parking Alert System
- iv. Mandated Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) for certain classes of L [Motor vehicle with less than four wheels and includes a Quadricycle], M [Motor vehicles with at least four wheels used for carrying  passengers]  and  N  [Motor  vehicles  with  at  least  four wheels used for carrying goods which may also carry persons in addition to goods, subject to conditions stipulated in BIS standards] categories.
- v. Mandated  speed  limiting  function/speed  limiting  device  in  all transport  vehicles,  except  for  two  wheelers,  three  wheelers, quadricycles, fire tenders, ambulances and police vehicles.
- vi. Published  the  rules  for  recognition,  regulation  and  control  of Automated  Testing  Stations,  which  define  the  procedure  for fitness testing of vehicles through automated equipment and the procedure for grant of fitness certificate by ATSs. The rules have been further amended on 31.10.2022 and 14.03.2024.
- vii. Formulated the Vehicle Scrapping Policy based on incentives/disincentives and for creating an ecosystem to phase out old, unfit and polluting vehicles.
- viii. A Scheme to set up one model Inspection & Certification Centre in each  State/UT  with  Central  assistance  for  testing  the  fitness  of vehicles through an automated system.
- ix. Published rules regarding the Bharat New  Car Assessment Program  (BNCAP)  to  introduce  the  concept  of  safety  rating  of passenger cars and empower consumers to take informed decisions.
- x. Published rules regarding prescribed level playing field in the area of  manufacturing  of  buses  by  Original  Equipment  Manufacturers (OEMs) and Bus Body Builders.
- xi. Mandated  vehicles,  manufactured  on  or  after  1 st   October,  2025, shall  be  fitted  with  an  air-conditioning  system  for  the  cabin  of

vehicles of N2 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 3.5 tonnes but not exceeding 12.0 tonnes) and N3 (goods vehicle with gross vehicle weight exceeding 12.0 tonnes) category.

- xii. Published rules for revision of standards for Safety Belt, Restraint Systems  and  Safety  Belt  Reminder  to  provide  provisions  for applicability  of  revised  standards  for  safety  belt  assemblies, safety  belt  anchorages  and  the  installation  of  Safety  Belts  and Restraint  Systems,  in  Motor  vehicles  of  category  M,  N  and  L7 w.e.f.  01 st   April,  2025.  Further,  the  vehicles  of  category  M1, manufactured  on  and  after  the  1 st   April  2025,  shall  meet  the requirement of safety belt reminder for all front facing rear seats as per AIS-145-2018.

## (C)     Enforcement:

- i. The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 as stands implemented provides for strict penalties for ensuring compliance and enhancing deterrence for violation of traffic rules and strict enforcement through use of technology.
2. The  Rules  for  Electronic  Monitoring  and  Enforcement  of  Road Safety specify the detailed provisions for placement of electronic enforcement  devices  on  high  risk  &  high  density  corridors  on National Highways, State Highways and critical junctions in cities having  a  population  of  more  than  one  million  in  India  and  cities
- ii. under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
- iii. On 10 th   June,  2024, has issued an advisory to all the States and Union territories on technological interventions for ensuring compliance with Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.

## (D)     Emergency Care:

- i. Published rules for the protection of Good Samaritan, who in good faith, voluntarily and without expectation of any reward  or compensation renders emergency medical or non-medical care or
2. assistance at the scene of an accident to the victim or transports such victim to the hospital.
- ii. Enhanced compensation of victims of Hit and Run motor accidents (from Rs.12,500 to Rs.50,000 for grievous hurt and from Rs.25,000 to Rs.2,00,000 for death).
- iii. The  National  Highways  Authority  of  India  (NHAI)  has  made provisions for ambulances with paramedical staff/Emergency Medical Technician/Nurse at toll plazas on the completed corridor of National Highways.

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