Press Information Bureau

The Government in Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is primarily responsible for development and maintenance of National Highways (NHs). All the aspirational and tribal districts are connected with the NH network.

Development and maintenance of NHs, including NHs providing connectivity to aspirational and tribal districts and other districts, is a continuous process. Works on NHs, including capacity augmentation, are accordingly taken up based on the traffic density, connectivity requirement, condition of the road, inter-se priority and synergy with PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP).

NHs are primarily meant for long distance connectivity. Government has constructed 1,08,743 km of NHs, including NHs connecting large cities, urban areas, villages, aspirational and tribal districts, and other districts since April, 2014. This includes 4,775 km length constructed as part of NHs projects confined within one or more adjoining tribal districts during the last five years and current year.

Government has constructed 7,517 km of NHs in the State of Madhya Pradesh since April, 2014.

Based on the study by Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore on impact of development of National Highways projects (2014-2022) in the country, broad findings are as under:-

1. 1. Every one-rupee expenditure in National Highway development leads to a ₹ 3.2 increase in GDP;
   2. The time taken for transportation between factories and suppliers has decreased by 9.19% in treatment districts vis- à-vis control districts;
   3. The time taken for transportation between factories and customers has decreased by 4.93% in treatment districts as compared to control districts;
   4. The time to access schools has decreased by 16.6% in treatment districts vis-à-vis control districts;
   5. There has been a 9% reduction in time to access health services in treatment districts as compared to control districts;
   6. The average time to reach Mandis decreased by 7% in treatment districts as compared to control districts; and
   7. The average number of Mandis accessed increased by 8% in treatment districts as compared to control districts.

Although Government is continuously engaged in the development of NHs to boost the economy, the responsibility for the last mile connectivity to agricultural centers, schools, health care centers, tourism centers etc. lies with State Government only.

At present, 217 NHs projects in 8,025 km length costing ₹ 3.23 Lakh Crore are under construction in the country under the Public- Private Partnership (PPP) model.

To attract more private players and make investment opportunities more attractive, the Government has taken several initiatives like reforms in Model Concession Agreement for PPP Projects, reforms in model contracts for monetization of NHs through Toll Operate and Transfer (TOT) basis, Stakeholder Conferences held with concessionaires, financiers, and major government bodies to showcase investment opportunities to private players as well as understand & address investors' concerns etc.

This information was given by the Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari in written reply to the Lok Sabha.

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SR/GDH/SJ

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