The National Highways Development Project is a project to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to a higher standard. The project was implemented in 1998. "National Highways" account for only about 2% of the total length of roads, but carry about 40% of the total traffic across the length and breadth of the country. This project is managed by the National Highways Authority of India under the Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways. The NHAI has implemented US$ 71 billion for this project, as of 2006.
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Phases
The project is composed of the following phases:
- Phase I: The Golden Quadrilateral (GQ; 5,846 km) connecting the four major cities of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. This project connecting four metro cities, would be 5,846 km. Total cost of the project is Rs300 billion (US$6.8 billion), funded largely by the government’s special petroleum product tax revenues and government borrowing. As of January 2009 5,704 km of the intended 5,846 km has been 4 laned.[1]
- Phase II: North-South and East-West corridors comprising national highways connecting four extreme points of the country. The North-South and East-West Corridor (NS-EW; 7,300 km) connecting Srinagar in the north to Kanyakumari in the south, including spur from Salem to Kochi (Via Coimbatore), and Silchar in the east to Porbandar in the west. Total length of the network is 7,300 km. As of january 2009, 42% of the project had been completed and 44% of the project work is currently at progress.[2] It also includes Port connectivity and other projects — 1,157 km. The final completion date to February 28, 2009 at a cost of Rs350 billion (US$8 billion), with funding similar to Phase I.
- Phase III: The government recently approved NHDP-III to upgrade 12,109 km of national highways on a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis, which takes into account high-density traffic, connectivity of state capitals via NHDP Phase I and II, and connectivity to centres of economic importance. contracts have been awarded for a 2,075 km.
- Phase IV: The government is considering widening 20,000 km of highway that were not part of Phase I, II, or III. Phase IV will convert existing single lane highways into two lanes with paved shoulders. The plan will soon be presented to the government for approval.
- Phase V: As road traffic increases over time, a number of four lane highways will need to be upgraded/expanded to six lanes. The current plan calls for upgrade of about 5,000 km of four-lane roads, although the government has not yet identified the stretches.
- Phase VI: The government is working on constructing expressways that would connect major commercial and industrial townships. It has already identified 400 km of Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Mumbai section that would connect to the existing Vadodara (earlier Baroda)-Ahmedabad section. The World Bank is studying this project. The project will be funded on BOT basis. The 334 km Expressway between Chennai—Bangalore (Now called Bengaluru) and 277 km Expressway between Kolkata—Dhanbad has been identified and feasibility study and DPR contract has been awarded by NHAI.
- Phase VII: This phase calls for improvements to city road networks by adding ring roads to enable easier connectivity with national highways to important cities. In addition, improvements will be made to stretches of national highways that require additional flyovers and bypasses given population and housing growth along the highways and increasing traffic. The government has not yet identified a firm investment plan for this phase. The 19-km long Chennai Port—Maduravoyal Elevated Expressway is being executed under this phase.
| NHDP Phase | Particulars | Length | Indicative Cost [Indian Rupees (in crores)] |
|---|---|---|---|
| NHDP-I & II | Balance work of GQ and EW-NS corridors | 13,000 | 42,000 |
| NHDP-III | 4-laning | 10,000 | 55,000 |
| NHDP-IV | 2-laning | 20,000 | 25,000 |
| NHDP-V | 6-laning of selected stretches | 5,000 | 17,500 |
| NHDP-VI | Development of expressways | 1,000 | 15,000 |
| NHDP-VII | Ring Roads, Bypasses, Grade Separators, Service Roads etc. | 700 | 15,000 |
| Total | 45,000 | 1,69,500 (Revised to 2,20,000) |
Note: 1 crore= 10 million
| Priority | NHDP Phase | Length (km) | Status | Approval | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phase I | 5846 | Fully awarded | December 2000 | December 2006 |
| 2 | Phase II | 7300 | Award in progress | December 2003 | December 2009 |
| 3 | Phase III A | 4000 | Already identified | March 2005 | December 2009 |
| 4 | Phase V | 6500 | 5700 km of GQ + 800 km to be identified | November 2005 | December 2012 |
| 5 | Phase III B | 6000 | Already identified | March 2006 | December 2012 |
| 6 | Phase VII A | 700 | Ring roads to be identified | December 2006 | December 2012 |
| 7 | Phase IV A | 5000 | To be identified | December 2006 | December 2012 |
| 8 | Phase VII B | Ring roads to be identified | December 2007 | December 2013 | |
| 9 | Phase IV B | 5000 | To be identified | December 2007 | December 2013 |
| 10 | Phase VI A | 400 | Already identified | December 2007 | December 2014 |
| 11 | Phase VII C | Ring roads to be identified | December 2008 | December 2014 | |
| 12 | Phase IV C | 5000 | To be identified | December 2008 | December 2014 |
| 13 | Phase VI B | 600 | To be identified | December 2008 | December 2015 |
| 14 | Phase IV D | 5000 | To be identified | December 2009 | December 2015 |
"Financing of the National Highway Development Programme". http://infrastructure.gov.in/pdf/NHDP.pdf.
Future plans
The Indian Government has set ambitious plans for upgrading of the National Highways in a phased manner in the years to come. The details are as follows:
- 4-laning of 10,000 km (NHDP Phase- III) including 4,000 km that has been already approved. An accelerated road development programme for the North Eastern region.
- 2-laning with paved shoulders of 20,000 km of National Highways under NHDP Phase-IV.
- 6-laning of GQ and some other selected stretches covering 6,500 km under NHDP Phase-V.
- Development of 1,000 km of express ways under NHDP Phase-VI.
- Development of ring roads, bypasses, grade separators, service roads, etc. under NHDP Phase-VII.
See also
- National Highways Authority of India
- Expressways of India
- Golden Quadrilateral (GQ)
- North-South and East-West Corridor
- List of National Highways in India
External links
- "Rs. 3.2 trillion for infrastructure in 11th plan" - India e-News article, dated 6 July, 2006.
- NHAI Project Photographs
- National Highway Authority of India
- NH in Kerala
- Highway Photographs
- Map of NSEW progress, on the NHAI website.
- India Highways Group with lots of Pictures
- 'Mile by Mile, India Paves a Smoother Future' — extremely detailed New York Times article, dated December 4, 2005 (free registration required)
References
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