Page 6 - Ministry Of Road Transport And Highways

Govt to revamp tunnel construction SOPs to prevent Silkyara like mishaps

The government on Friday said it will revamp the standard operating procedures for tunnel construction after an expert panel found many shortcomings in the under-construction Silkyara tunnel, which collapsed in November last year, leaving 41 workers stranded for more than two weeks. At a press briefing, Road Transport and Highways Secretary Anurag Jain said the Silkyara tunnel project in Uttarkashi is still workable, and the government will not abandon it. An experts' panel to investigate the collapse of a portion of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel has pointed out many shortcomings in the project, he added. "Silkyara tunnel collapse se humne kaafi kuch seekha hai (We have learnt a lot from the collapse of the under-construction Silkyara tunnel)," he said. A total of 41 workers were trapped after a portion of the under-construction tunnel collapsed on November 12 and the workers were rescued on November 28. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), on December 6,

Govt explores ways to incorporate waste materials into highway construction

Draft policy by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways seeks to integrate Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 with National Highway construction

No tolled highway with capital cost fully recovered, says Gadkari

The government on Thursday said there are no tolled national highways in the country that have completely recovered the capital cost. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said there is no provision for closing of user fee plaza after completion of concession period/recovery of capital cost as per the National Highways Fee (Determination of Rates and Collection) Rules, 2008. "There are no tolled national highways (Public/ Private funded) in the country of which capital cost has been completely recovered," he said. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways across the country.

Gadkari shifts focus: InvITs prevail over TOT for highway monetisation

Aiming to bid out Rs2 trn BOT projects before MCC kicks in

Tata Safari, Harrier first vehicles to get 5-star rating under Bharat-NCAP

Tata Motors said its SUVs Safari and Harrier have become the first recipients of the five-star rating for adult and child occupant protection as per the Bharat New Car Assessment Programme

Budgetary allocation to road ministry jumps to Rs 2.7 trillion in 2023-24

The average annual budgetary allocation of the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has increased by 940% from Rs 25,872 crore per year during 2009-14 to Rs 2.7 trillion during 2023-24

Centre launches new car programme for safety rating of passenger vehicles

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways stated that the programme shall be applicable on type approved vehicles of category M1, manufactured or imported in the country on or after October 1, 2023

Capex on national highways rose to Rs 2.4 trl in 2022-23: Nitin Gadkari

Nitin Gadkari provided this information in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Thursday. The NH network in the country has risen from 91,287 km in March 2014 to about 0.14 million km in 2023

MoRTH aims to halve road accidents and casualties by 2030: Gadkari

The government aims to halve the number of road accidents and resultant deaths by 2030, revising its earlier target of achieving the same in 2024, with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday saying that despite best efforts he has not got the desired results on reducing accidents. Earlier in September 2022, the road transport and highways minister had called upon all the state transport ministers and officials to work together to reduce road accidents and the resultant deaths by 50 per cent by 2024. Releasing a report titled 'Road Safety Good Practices in India' prepared by SaveLIFE Foundation, Gadkari said, "Latest target humne rakha hai ki 2030 ke pehle hum kam se kam 50 per cent accidents aur deaths ko kam karenge (We have set a latest target to reduce the number of road accidents and the resulting deaths in the country by half by 2030." According to the latest report by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the number of road accidents in India went up 12 per cent to

Govt makes air-conditioned truck cabin for drivers mandatory from Oct 2025

All new trucks manufactured on or after October 1, 2025, must be equipped with AC cabins for drivers, as the Road Transport and Highways Ministry has issued a notification for mandating air-conditioned truck cabins. In a gazette notification, the ministry has said, "...the vehicles manufactured on or after October 1, 2025, shall be fitted with an air-conditioning system for the cabin of vehicles of N2 and N3 category". The testing of the cabin fitted with an air-conditioning system shall be as per IS14618:2022, it added. In July, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the draft notification to mandate the installation of air-conditioning systems in the cabins of trucks has been approved. Recently, the minister said that truck drivers play a key role in the transport sector, one of the most important areas for India, and there is a need to address issues regarding their working conditions and state of mind. Air-conditioned cabins for trucks will soon be made mandatory, ..

10,000 fuel stations now offering EV charging facilities across the country

The government has mandated that all petrol pumps set up after 2019 must have one alternate energy supply besides petrol and diesel. The alternate fuel could be CNG, biogas, or EV charging facility

Speed limit on Yamuna E-way to be reduced to 75 kmph next week; here's why

While light motor vehicles like two-wheelers and cars will be allowed 75 kmph, the speed limit for heavy vehicles like trucks and buses will be 60 kmph

Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I total expenditure at Rs 4.10 trn: Gadkari

A total expenditure of Rs 4.10 lakh crore has been made under Bharatmala Pariyojana Phase I (BPP-I) as on October 31, 2023, and the difference in actual project cost and normative cost is due to increase in cost of raw material and land acquisition, Parliament was informed on Wednesday. In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has made observation about the increase in cost of Phase I of the pariyojana. "As on October 31, 2023, the total expenditure (BPP-I) is about Rs 4.10 lakh crore...There has been no diversion of funds from other schemes in the execution of BPP-I," he said. According to Gadkari, certain BPP-I projects were earlier planned under other schemes of Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRT&H) viz, externally aided project (EAP), National Highways Original works NH(O), and SARDP scheme, which were subsequently prioritized under BPP-I as per the ...

Old and new fuel vehicles will have place 'side by side': VECV MD & CEO

VECV's Eicher unit witnessed a 15 per cent year-on-year growth in sales, reaching 36,178 units in the first half of the current financial year

Pace of National Highway construction at 20.78 km/day in Apr-Oct FY24

The pace of national highway construction in the country stood at 20.78 kilometre a day during the first seven months of the current financial year, according to official data. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has put in place plans to maintain the pace of highway development and construct 12,500 km of highways in 2023-24. "The (project) award figure is 2,595 km during this period as compared to 5,007 km during the period in previous year. The ministry has constructed 4,474 km of national highways up to October in 2023-24 as compared to 4,060 km constructed up to October in 2022-23," MoRTH said in its monthly summary for the Cabinet for October 2023. The ministry constructed 10,237 km NH in 2019-20 financial year, 13,327 km in 2020-21 and 10,457 km in 2021-22. "lf the target for award has to be met for this year, decision on the proposal for approval of the revised Bharatmala Phase-1 or alternate programme needs to be taken expeditiously. Shortfall in award this ye

Awarding of highways halved over a year, MoRTH expresses concern to Cabinet

Experts noted these approvals would be needed for the ministry to be able to infuse funds for awarding new projects

MoRTH proposes uniform cyber security & management system for four-wheelers

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has proposed uniform Cyber Security and Management Systems (CSMS) provisions for certain categories of four-wheelers, passenger and commercial vehicles to protect their functions from cyber threats. MoRTH, in a draft titled 'Approval of vehicles with regards to Cyber Security and Cyber Security management system', said that the application for approval of a vehicle type with regard to cyber security shall be submitted by the vehicle manufacturer or by their duly accredited representative. "Based on the discussion in the 66th meeting of Automotive Industry Standards Committee (AISC) held on 14th July, 2023, the Committee agreed to formulate an Automotive Industry Standard (AIS) for approval of vehicles equipped with Cyber Security and Management Systems (CSMS). "The purpose of this standard is to establish uniform provisions for CSMS fitted to motor vehicles of categories M and N," the draft report said. According to the draft repo

Road accident fatalities hit all-time high last year in India: Govt data

The year marked an increase of 11.9 per cent in accidents, 9.4 per cent in fatalities, and 15.3 per cent in injuries compared to 2021

Will India now replace steel crash barriers on highways with bamboo?

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways Is keen on the technology's adoption and has already run pilots

Rural road construction changes path for the first time in 8 years

he rural development scheme has been 'poorly' performing in the recent past, as it has been continuously missing its targets for the April-June period since FY16