Page 3 - Highways

Budget 2024: Capex momentum for developing highways likely to continue

Focus will be on the quality of work done and not just the length of highways built, say senior govt officials

NHAI increases highway tolls across the country by an average of 5%

Motorists using expressways will have to shell out more from Monday as the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has decided to hike tolls across the country by an average of 5 per cent. The annual revision of highway user fee, which is expected to be in the range of average 5 per cent, was earlier to come into effect on April 1. But the hike was deferred due to the Lok Sabha elections. "The new user fee will come into effect from 3.6.2024," a senior NHAI official said on Sunday. The change in toll fee is part of an annual exercise to revise the rates that are linked to the changes in the wholesale price index (CPI)-based inflation. There are around 855 user fee plazas on the national highway network on which user fee is levied as per the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. Out of these, around 675 are public-funded fee plazas and 180 are operated by concessionaires.

Uttar Pradesh govt to invest Rs 45K crore to accelerate cargo movement

These projects encompass bridges and over-bridges across the 75 districts of the state. Of the proposed Rs 45,000 cr, the public works department (PWD) will spend nearly Rs 34,000 cr, or 75 per cent

Road execution likely to dip by up to 10% in FY25, says CareEdge

"Of the total awards of 12,300 kilometres by the National Highways Authority of India in FY22 and FY23, 20 per cent continue to await an appointed date for more than one year," CareEdge said

Morth builds over 12,000 km of highways in FY24, 2nd highest so far

The Road Transport and Highways Ministry constructed 12,349 km of national highways in 2023-24, the second highest in its history, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Previously, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) had constructed a record 13,327 kilometres of national highways in 2020-21. National highways of 10,331 kilometres were constructed in 2022-23 against 10,457 kilometres in 2021-22. Highways of 10,237 kilometres were built in 2019-20. The official further said that the ministry awarded 8,581 national highway projects in 2023-24. The government has launched a pilot project to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims. Accident victims will be entitled to cashless treatment of up to Rs 1.5 lakh, the official said.

Morth raises Rs 40,314 crore via asset monetisation in financial year 2024

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has raised Rs 40,314 crore through various modes of asset monetisation in financial year 2023-24, against the target of Rs 28,968 crore, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The ministry had raised Rs 15,968 crore through monetisation of 4 toll-operate-transfer (TOT) bundles, Rs 15,700 crore through Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and Rs 8,646 crore through securitisation, the official told PTI. The ministry had raised Rs 32,855 crore in 2022-23 through various modes of asset monetisation. Currently, MoRTH monetises its assets under three different modes -- toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model, Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) and project-based financing, in order to provide all categories of investors an opportunity to invest in assets pertaining to highways and associated infrastructure. Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) is an instrument on the pattern of mutual funds, designed to pool money from ...

Nhai's 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' norm comes into force from April 1

State-owned National Highways Authority of India's 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' norm, which aims to discourage the use of single FASTag for multiple vehicles or linking multiple FASTags to a particular vehicle, has come into force from Monday, a senior official said. NHAI had extended the 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' initiative compliance deadline to March-end, in view of the problems being faced by Paytm FASTag users. "Multiple FASTags won't work... People who have multiple FASTags for one vehicle won't be able to use all of them from today (April 1)," the official told PTI. To enhance the efficiency of the electronic toll collection system and provide seamless movement at toll plazas, the NHAI has taken the 'One Vehicle, One FASTag' initiative that aims to discourage the use of single FASTag for multiple vehicles or linking multiple FASTags to a particular vehicle. Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had advised customers as well as merchants of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) t

Stricter norms: Govt tightens noose around scrapping facility regulations

Industrial zones are classified into red, orange, green, and white categories, determined by a pollution index score derived from factors such as emissions, effluents and hazardous waste generation

4 national highways, 279 roads closed due to snow, rain in Himachal Pradesh

A total of 279 roads, including four national highways, have been closed for vehicular traffic in Himachal Pradesh due to recent snow and rains even though the state witnessed a dry day on Friday. Manali received traces of snow in the past 24 hours, the MeT said on Saturday, adding a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect the western Himalayan region from the night of March 20. About 96 per cent of the total roads are blocked in the high altitude and tribal areas, and a maximum of 249 roads were closed in Tribal Lahaul and Spiti, 11 in Chamba and nine in Kinnaur on Friday night. Four roads are blocked each in Kullu and Mandi, one each in Kangra and Shimla, as per the state emergency operation centre. As many as 246 transformers are out of order and three water supply schemes are disrupted. There was no significant change in the minimum temperatures and Keylong at minus 7.7 degree Celsius was the coldest at night while Kukumseri recorded a low of minus 4.1 degree Celsius.

Govt clears Rs 6,621 cr for construction of eight stretches on NH-913

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has sanctioned Rs 6,621.62 crore for the construction of eight stretches on National Highway-913, designated as the Frontier Highway. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in a series of posts on X said the comprehensive project spans a total length of 265.49 km. Gadkari said encompassed within this initiative are package 1, 3, and 5, covering the Huri-Taliha section, two packages on the Bile-Migging section, package 2 & 4 managing the Kharsang-Maio-Gandhigram-Vijaynagar section, and package 1 focusing on the Bomdila-Nafra-Lada section. The minister said the development of these highway stretches holds promise for enhanced connectivity to border areas, fostering socio-economic growth in the region. The construction of the Frontier Highway is anticipated to curb migration and facilitate reverse migration towards the border areas of Arunachal Pradesh, he added. In a separate post on X, Gadkari said MoRTH has ...

Expect completion of 4 more smart cities, logistics park by FY25: NICDC CEO

Rs 23,000 crore investment mobilized in Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor

PM lays foundation stones of road projects in Gujarat costing Rs 1,500 cr

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday virtually laid the foundation stones of three highway projects costing Rs 1,575 crore in Gujarat at an event held in Gurugram in Haryana. Among the three projects is the construction of a six-lane elevated corridor of 10.630 km from Narol Junction to Sarkhej Junction and an 8-lane bridge to replace the existing Shastri bridge on Sabarmati river on National Highway-47 in Ahmedabad at a cost of Rs 1,295 crore, a government release said. "National Highway-47 from Narol to Sarkhej passes through Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation limits. The elevated corridor will help solve traffic problems and blackspots created due to cross traffic that causes accidents," the release said. A second project of converting two-lane National Highway-58 to four-lane on a 23-kilometre stretch from Satlasana to Kheralu has been sanctioned, the release added. "This 23 km road is currently two-lane and connects to four-lane roads on both sides. The entire route will ...

Govt approves Rs 6,728 cr for 8 stretches on Frontier Highway in Arunachal

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has approved an allocation of Rs 6,728.33 crore for constructing eight stretches on NH-913 (Frontier Highway) in Arunachal Pradesh as Intermediate Lane Road, spanning 305.50 km on Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) mode, an official statement said on Thursday. Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari in a post on X said the development aims to enhance connectivity to border areas, fostering socio-economic progress. The Frontier Highway construction is expected to curb migration, encourage reverse habitation towards Arunachal Pradesh's border regions, Gadkari added. Furthermore, he said these frontier highway stretches will establish crucial road infrastructure, linking significant river basins, facilitating the development of numerous hydropower projects in the state. According to Gadkari, this predominantly greenfield road will connect sparsely populated Upper Arunachal areas, which are ideal for tourism,

Road EPC firms' order book shrinks as highway tendering hits slow lane

The lack of orders is neither causing worry over credit-worthiness nor dampening enthusiasm

Govt to soon introduce GPS-based highway toll collection system: Gadkari

The government will soon come out with a tender for introducing GPS-based highway toll collection system on national highways, Union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Wednesday. Gadkari said the pilot projects of GPS-based toll systems of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) have been successful and the government will soon come out with a tender for implementing the new toll collection system. "Pilot projects of GPS-based toll systems on national highways to replace toll plazas in the country have been successful... We will soon come out with a tender for introducing GPS-based toll collection systems on national highways," he said at an event here. The move is aimed at reducing traffic congestion and charging motorists for the exact distance travelled on the highways. The road transport and highways ministry has conducted two pilot projects of automatic number plate recognition systems (automatic number plate reader cameras) to enable automated toll collection without

India's record pace in building roads slows down as bills rise, polls near

Terms for building expressways have been changed as the government seeks better utilisation of funds

PM GatiShakti: Five road, railway infra projects recommended for approval

Five infrastructure projects of roads and railways have been recommended for approval under the PM GatiShakti initiative, the commerce and industry ministry said on Friday. These projects were assessed in the 65th Network Planning Group (NPG) meeting. "The NPG examined the projects from the perspective of integrated planning based on the PM GatiShakti principles. The project details were examined based on the planning/mapping on PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP)," it said. The projects which are evaluated include highway projects in Goa, Meghalaya and Assam; construction of rail-over-rail bulb line in Bihar; and urban metro transit projects in Bengaluru and Delhi/NCR. The inter-ministerial NPG meets every fortnight and appraises infra projects to ensure multi-modality, synchronisation of efforts and comprehensive development in and around the project location. The initiative was launched to develop an integrated infrastructure to reduce logistics costs. All logistics and ..

Highway construction likely to reach 13K km in FY24: Highways secretary

Jain said the Ministry of Road and Highways (MoRTH) seeks to award 10,000 km of projects to maintain the pace of infrastructure development

Quite a hell of a ride

Ensuring road safety on India's highways needs a mission mode approach, if the country is to rid itself of the ignominious tag of being the most dangerous place in the world

Govt to adopt qualitative tendering process instead of L1 system: Gadkari

The highways ministry will shift to quality-cum-cost based system for the selection of bids for various road construction-related projects in place of the age-old least-cost selection process, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said. The move is aimed at improving the quality of various infrastructure-related works in the country, the minister said at an event organised by the International Road Federation (IRF). Gadkari further said road engineering solutions must be taken care of while preparing Detailed Project Reports (DPR). "The road ministry will soon be adopting a qualitative tendering process instead of the least cost bidding process to bring in quality and road safety in various projects. "Qualitative tendering will help incorporate road safety features in designs keeping in mind the behaviour of the road users," the Road Transport and Highways minister said. Gadkari said bad road engineering is the biggest culprit for increasing road accidents in the country. Elaborating furt