Indian Roads Thread

[Sachin]

The solution is to have 'Indian Highways Police' along the same lines as Railway Protection Force rather than reply on the State Police Forces to monitor & control the Highways.

The RPF model has its own problems. The mandate of RPF is to protect 'railway assets'. But they have no mandate to protect the assets of a passenger travelling on a train. If a theft/robbery of a passenger happens on train the case is taken up by the GRP (Govt. Railway Police). These are police men taken from the state police force, and who remain in the train till it leaves the state border. But if a parcel gets stolen from the brake van or from the Goods wagons, the RPF takes up the investigation (as it is some thing in temporary custody of railways). So now you have two police forces instead of one, where as one was sufficient.

KL would be the first state to have a Highway Police establishment way back in the year 1993. There is a mandate on all states to now have a highway police unit. The MV Act is now amended with steep penalties. All it requires is strict enforcement. The state police and their highway patrol units have the capability, but it is more of complacency issue. Equip all highway patrol units with good cameras, and speed radars & breath analysers. Give them a target and evaluate the performance. In one week, the same people who wanted more stricter enforcement will start whining. .

[rajkumar]

The solution is to have 'Indian Highways Police' along the same lines as Railway Protection Force rather than reply on the State Police Forces to monitor & control the Highways.

The RPF model has its own problems. The mandate of RPF is to protect 'railway assets'. But they have no mandate to protect the assets of a passenger travelling on a train. If a theft/robbery of a passenger happens on train the case is taken up by the GRP (Govt. Railway Police). These are police men taken from the state police force, and who remain in the train till it leaves the state border. But if a parcel gets stolen from the brake van or from the Goods wagons, the RPF takes up the investigation (as it is some thing in temporary custody of railways). So now you have two police forces instead of one, where as one was sufficient.

KL would be the first state to have a Highway Police establishment way back in the year 1993. There is a mandate on all states to now have a highway police unit. The MV Act is now amended with steep penalties. All it requires is strict enforcement. The state police and their highway patrol units have the capability, but it is more of complacency issue. Equip all highway patrol units with good cameras, and speed radars & breath analysers. Give them a target and evaluate the performance. In one week, the same people who wanted more stricter enforcement will start whining. .

Thanks Sachin, learn something new each day....

[bala]

Nitin Gadkari is known as the man who supercharged the pace of road work in India. He is a "can do" man in GoI.

Unfiltered political podcast with Nitin Gadkari in Hindi

[VinodTK]

StratNewsGlobal: India's Infra Thrust To Ladakh: Countering China & Pakistan

India’s military is in the fourth winter of its advanced forward deployment against China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. China’s renewed aggression in 2020 led to the deadly Galwan clashes in June that year, with the consequent military buildup and standoff. Both sides continue to engage at the military, diplomatic and political level. But the shattering of trust, protocols and agreements means India is on perpetual guard in the present while ramping up its preparedness for the future.

StratNews Global’s team of Amitabh P. Revi, Rohit Pandita and Karan Marwaha travels along alpine altitudes through the frozen desert landscape in eastern Ladakh and Siachen to bring you this series: The Himalayan Frontier. These ground reports document the sustained infrastructure push in road connectivity and air bridges, record substantial progress in alternate axes that are in play and are being planned, and capture on camera how the Indian Army, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and the Indian Air Force’s women, men and machines are honing their all-weather readiness during another winter, against the two-front threat from China and Pakistan.

In this episode, we travel from Manali, through the Atal Tunnel under the Rohtang Pass and drive on the Darcha-Padam-Nimmu (NPD) road to Leh. This is a crucial third axis to Leh that will ensure all-weather connectivity for India's military and civilians, even when upto fifteen foot high snow walls usually close passes as high as 17,000+ feet for months in the winter. The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) is the nodal agency for this infrastructural push and we travel with their personnel to understand their engineering achievements through bone-chilling alpine altitudes, how they drill through mountain ranges, lay bridges across fast-moving rivers and the challenges at these heights, temperatures and topographies.

Hats off tot the people working on the project; just looking at the roads & mountains makes your head spin.

[VinodTK]

Gunners Shot Clips: IMPROVEMENT IN LAC INFRASTRUCTURE -AN GROUND EXPERIENCE OF LT GEN S KULKARNI(R)
IMPROVEMENT IN LAC INFRASTRUCTURE - AN GROUND EXPERIENCE OF LT GEN S KULKARNI (R)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrapeY5pOjI

[A_Gupta]

As the new highways open, please post any daily/monthly traffic figures that you find.

[VKumar]

As the new highways open, please post any daily/monthly traffic figures that you find.

Also track accidents.

[A_Gupta]

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cit ... 216009.cms

Atalanta Sethu Mumbai is averaging 30,000 vehicles and Rs 61.5 lakhs in tolls everyday after 15 days of operation.

[VinodTK]

The Pioneer

Achieved breakthrough by building Naushera Tunnel: BRO

The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Sunday announced that it has achieved a breakthrough in ‘Golden Arc Road’ by building the 700-meter-long Naushera tunnel on the Akhnoor-Poonch National Highway (NH-144A).

Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, DG of Border Roads Organisation attended the breakthrough ceremony along with senior project engineers.

The breakthrough moment was celebrated by the entire team by raising patriotic slogans and hailing the team spirit of the engineers and laborers working on the project.

Highlighting the importance of the road infrastructure project Lt-Gen Raghu Srinivasan said this project is a major step forward in enhancing regional connectivity and facilitating smoother transportation along the National Highway.

The Golden Arc Road is an old and highly strategic 200 Km stretch that connects the south Kashmir-Jammu region to the west of Jammu. It connects the important border areas of Akhnoor, Rajouri and Poonch. There are four major tunnels in this stretch viz Kandi tunnel, Sungal tunnel, Naushera tunnel, and BhimberGali tunnel.

Last year on 25 Nov 2023 breakthrough of the Kandi tunnel was achieved signifying the efforts of BRO towards providing connectivity across the areas of Rajouri and Poonch. The progress of the National Highway has taken place and the project is expected to be completed by 2026 before its specified time

In his brief address, Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, DG BR mentioned that BRO is spearheading crucial road projects to connect remote areas with major centers in the Jammu-Poonch region.

Lt-Gen Srinivasan said, the Jammu-Poonch link, advancing rapidly, is on track for completion in the next few years. On being asked about Defence Infrastructure along LoC, DGBR mentioned that the development of defence infrastructure is a continuous process and Border Roads Organisation is committed to strengthening defence infrastructure by building and upgrading strategic roads all along the IB, LoC, and LAC. BRO and Project Sampark are steadfast in their commitment to Create, Connect, Care, and save the lives of the citizens of its area of responsibility.

[vsunder]

The long awaited Se La tunnel and all weather road to Tawang is scheduled to be dedicated to the nation by the end of this month by PM Modi. It is a game changer vis-a-vis the security posture against China. Currently DG BRO has ordered a third party safety audit of the twin tunnels and escape tunnel in view of the tunnel cave in at Silkyara, Uttarakhand. The audit is planned to be completed by the middle of this month. Some approach road works to the tunnels is getting finished also and will be completed in about 10-15 days. A massive cloudburst in July 2023 hampered approach road construction and delayed the project a bit.

[A_Gupta]

https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-indias-ro ... a-67454370
Nov. 2023 article:

One person is killed in a road accident nearly every three and a half minutes in India. On average, the country witnesses 1,264 road accidents and 462 deaths every day — that is 53 crashes and 19 deaths every hour, according to India's latest Road Accidents report. In total, 168,491 people were killed and 443,366 injured in 461,312 road crashes last year.

"It is indeed a matter of great concern that despite the continuous efforts of the government in this regard and our commitments for halving fatalities, we have not been able to register significant progress on this front," said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari when releasing the report in October.

We are told 70+% of the accidents involve speeding, the next two largest causes are driving on the wrong side of the road, and use of mobile devices.

[VinodTK]

StratNewsGlobal: #China, #pakistan #ladakh Front: Roads Are Like Trees. Plant One & A Forest Develops: DG, BRO

Chiling, Ladakh: "Making a road is a measure of a nation's sovereignty. It exercises command and control, and it says that these are my people". Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, the Director General of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) says of the critical road connectivity being built up in Eastern Ladakh and Siachen in the backdrop of the two-front threat from China and Pakistan. In this exclusive interview with StratNews Global's Amitabh P. Revi on the frozen Zanskar River 'Chadar' Trail at Chiling near Leh in Ladakh, the DG notes "The impetus has over the last five or six years been a surge in what we are planning to do and are doing in Ladakh. The amount of projects which are being planned at the National and the Union Territory levels, the amount of funding, which is provided, and the way that projects are being cleared, all of it is phenomenal. We've not seen anything like it." Watch the complete interview with Lt Gen Raghu Srinivasan, the DG of the BRO in our series, 'The Himalayan Frontier'. Part V.

On the differences in road infrastructure in China-occupied Tibet and across the LAC, Lt Gen Srinivasan points out, "the Tibetan Plateau is at a lower altitude-between 12000 to 14000 feet. And it's a flat tabletop. There are no mountain ranges. So, whatever you're constructing is on a flat piece of ground. That's number one. Number two, the mountains are the watershed. That means whatever snow or moisture is going to come is going to stop in our portion. Tibet really is a flat, barren, cold desert. For anyone who constructs roads, moisture or water is a great enemy. That's what we need to work on. And see that we have ways by which we have adequate drainage. So whatever roads we construct are not washed away. Then starting from the south, you have the great Himalayan range, the Ladakh Range, and the Karakoram. There are a series of ranges. We have a very fragile mountain base. They are young mountains in terms of the Himalayas, and these are landslide-prone. With moisture, they become avalanche-prone and naturally you keep ascending, and you keep gaining height and then keep descending and losing height. So, the zig-zags that we have in each of these is essentially to get over a series of mountain ranges, which we have over an expanse of Ladakh, which is approximately 60,000 square kilometres".

[hgupta]

https://www.dw.com/en/why-are-indias-ro ... a-67454370
Nov. 2023 article:

One person is killed in a road accident nearly every three and a half minutes in India. On average, the country witnesses 1,264 road accidents and 462 deaths every day — that is 53 crashes and 19 deaths every hour, according to India's latest Road Accidents report. In total, 168,491 people were killed and 443,366 injured in 461,312 road crashes last year.

"It is indeed a matter of great concern that despite the continuous efforts of the government in this regard and our commitments for halving fatalities, we have not been able to register significant progress on this front," said Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari when releasing the report in October.

We are told 70+% of the accidents involve speeding, the next two largest causes are driving on the wrong side of the road, and use of mobile devices.

It seems par for the course once you take into consideration the size of India’s population compared to US population. The death rate is around 3.9 when the population ratio is 4.2.

[vsunder]

On February 19th, PM Modi will inaugurate the long awaited Southern section of Mumbai Coastal Road from Worli to Marine drive/Princess St. flyover. This entailed land reclamation and driving two tunnels under Malabar Hill. In addition a number of PILs were brought against this project and many environmental hurdles had to be overcome. The South bound lanes of the highway will be thrown open to the public on Feb 20th followed by the Northbound lanes in May 2024. On January 11th Modi has also opened the Atal Transharbor bridge that allows people from South Bombay to travel to Vashi in 20mins and to the new airport when opened in minutes. The previous journey time was about 2-3 hours. The rest of the Coastal road, the Northern section, will be finished by 2025 from Kandivali to Worli.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFLHqckiHo4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyUEWDYCIyU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXRMr_tiBa4

The newly opened Atal Trans harbor bridge(opened by Modi on Jan 11, 2024) Bridge is 13.5 miles 21.8km long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kjNOlUhRZE

In addition PM Modi will inaugurate(these are already going on) trials from Aarey Milk colony car shed to BKC(Bandra Kurla Complex) of part of the 33.5 km completely undergroung Line 3(Aqua line). The line will commence operations in April 2024. Later by end of this year, the entire line from Aarey car shed to Cuffe Parade, Colaba entirely underground will be operational. This line connects T1 and T2 terminals of CSIA airport, Mumbai Central train station, CSMT (Central railway) train station, Hutatma Chowk (formerly Flora Fountain) and Siddhivinayak temple. The line will be now further pushed to Navy Nagar(Land's end at Colaba) where Tata Institute of Fundamental Research(TIFR) is located. Both projects are major game changers for public transportation in Mumbai. Trial of Metro L3 at 85kmph.

https://twitter.com/Sahilinfra2/status/ ... gr%5Etweet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Line_3_(Mumbai_Metro)

You can read ^^^about the obstacles this line faced from fake environmentalists, aided and abetted by brigands like Thackeray, a Parsi fire temple management, and so on and so on.

L&T which is constructing the new airport at Vashi and also the Coastal road is demolishing a big hill Ulwe hill that lies at the end of the runway at the new airport. This is taking time. Basalt rocks that are cut from this hill are used for aggregate and landfill at the airport and also was transported to the coastal road for reclamation. There is a seawall too and breakers for wave along the coastal road to prevent erosion and protect the coastal road from high tides. It's close to 90 years since such major projects have been undertaken in Mumbai.

[vsunder]

The Missing Link Project---Status Update(Mumbai--Pune Expressway)

This is a 13.3 km project involving two viaducts one of them 600m and cable stayed. There will be two tunnels, one of which is 8.92km long and some 170 feet under Lonavala Lake. This project will obviate the need to use the dangerous Khandala ghat on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway. This Khandala ghat is subject to rockfalls and landslides during the monsoons. Moreover, the steepness of the ghat section forces trucks to breakdown on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Lots of accidents occur on this ghat section of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. The missing link project will offer a straight alignment, no more zigzag ghat road. The project was to complete March 2024 but has been pushed back to January 2025. The tunnel will be the longest in Maharashtra.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALuobGcF1IA

The under construction cable stayed bridge, you see in the video ^^^ is designed to sustain wind speeds of 252 kmph. The video does not say that but I know. The simulation of the wind effects on the bridge was carried out in Denmark.

In about 2 years, one will drive from Worli, Central Mumbai, take the Atal Trans harbor bridge, and at the other end jump onto the Pune-Mumbai Expressway at Kalamboli, and take the missing link and be in Koregaon Park, Pune in 110 minutes. Takes anything from 4-5 hours and more if there is an accident or landslide now.

[vsunder]

Strategic Tunnels Update

1. Z Morh Tunnel 6.5 km. Finishing works taking place. Towards Sonamarg on the road to Kargil (135km)and to Leh(330km) beyond. Target for commissioning May-June 2024. Ventilation equipment and lighting etc being installed in the tunnel as seen in tweet below:

https://twitter.com/Sahilinfra2/status/ ... gr%5Etweet

2. Zojilla tunnel approaches.

Bridges and approach roads, snow galleries and cut and cover sections to protect roads against severe avalanches and a few small tunnels at 90% completion. Target for opening September-October 2024. This year there has been very little snowfall if at all in Kashmir and so work has gone on with great momentum. Last year there was an avalanche and workers got trapped, but were all rescued. Heavy snow also impedes movement of supplies and fuel along NH-1 towards the project.

3. Zojilla Tunnel.
13.5km tunnel. Is being constructed by tunneling at both ends by MEIL. From the Minimarg(Drass, Kargil end) and the Balatal(Sonamarg, Kashmir end which is the Z-Morh tunnel end ^^^) 4 km of excavation done on both ends, so 8km in all. In addition 2 km each of benching work has been done on each end, to stabilize the excavated part so that it does not cave in and trap people. Projected completion is 2026 or 2027. 5 km of tunneling left to breakthrough which is anticipated in third quarter 2025.

Any day we should hear about an inauguration date for Se la tunnel. Sadly the inauguration of the Neciphu tunnel in September 2023 by RM (Rakshi Mantri) Rajnath Singh was not noticed at all either here or on national media. Neciphu is a strategic tunnel in west Kameng dsitrict of Arunachal Pradesh on the strategic road from Tezpur Military HQ to Bomdila of 1962 fame and beyond to Tawang. The old road was fog bound a lot and a big hindrance to the Army and the local population. Not anymore after the tunnel opened.

Se La Tunnel, Neciphu tunnel etc all come under Project Vartak of the BRO to strengthen infra along the LAC/ McMohan Line in Arunachal Pradesh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzuLHlwF1dQ

OK found something from Print

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbC4u0t3O6M

I will repeat what I posted above. DG BRO Lt-Gen. Raghu Srinivasan has instituted a third party safety audit for the Se La tunnel in light of the tunnel cave in at Silkyara. Uttarakhand. The safety audit is supposedly due mid February and if found satisfactory, Se La tunnel will be inaugurated by PM Modi by late February.

[vsunder]

Se La Tunnel Inauguration

Nothing new here from my earlier post on the strategic importance of the Se la tunnel^^^ and the fact I already said it was to be inaugurated by PM Modi in end February or early March. This 1 day old news now confirms what I have posted earlier. I said earlier that BRO is conducting a safety audit and the report is due mid February, maybe it has been received and all is OK and the inauguration can now proceed.

https://www.republicworld.com/india/aru ... -vehicles/

It currently takes 2 days from 4 Corps HQ (Gajraj) at Tezpur to reach forward areas like Tawang. All this will be drastically cut short once the Se La tunnel is opened. Neciphu tunnel, the other tunnel on the BCT axis towards Tawang is already opened September 2023, see my previous post. Both Neciphu+ Se La are game changers in faster communication for civilian and Army in Arunachal Pradesh.

There is also a proposal before the CCS(Cabinet) to build a road cum rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra near Tezpur. This will in addition to the Bogibeel bridge provide another communication link between upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
Hope it is sanctioned.

The heightened activity in the Tawang sector in the last few years upto 2023 come summer, is the realization by the PLA that the opportunities for it will diminish to cause mischief once Se La and Nechiphu tunnels open and quicker deployment of forces can take place now. I anticipate there will be mischief but it will be much less.

[JTull]

Has the Silkyara tunnel work recommenced?

[vsunder]

^^^ Yes, work has resumed 15 days ago. However, the committee to probe the causes has found a number of issues with the work. One of them being is that the alignment of the tunnel is not along the shear, but transverse to it. Secondly certain methods used by the contractor in tunneling operations were methods for which the contractor was not qualified and did not seek permission from NHIDCL.

https://nhidcl.com/

I am not sure how they will remedy the fact that the tunnel is transverse to the shear of the strata of the rock in the tunnel. 601/825 km of the Char Dham road project is complete.

Maybe they will shotcrete and bolts to stabilize the tunnel and then line it after that. Dangerous situation.

[vsunder]

Getting a driving license in India is not going to get easy. Speeds are increasing on the new expressways and the process of getting a license is going to get automated with no human intervention so that road safety improves. Sending a proxy to take the driving test for you is also not going to work. Also driving cars which are not road worthy will also become a thing of the past. Here is the testing program in Delhi NCR which will be slowly be implemented in other states, of course corrupt states will not let go of their corrupt practices with bribes to get licences the norm, but a step has been taken here at least in Delhi NCR:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUuGpPhwEJ0

[A_Gupta]

https://indianexpress.com/article/citie ... h-9162170/

The newly launched Atal Setu, popularly known as MTHL (Mumbai Trans Harbour Link), turned one-month-old on February 13 and a total of 8.13 lakh vehicles used the bridge in the past month. As per the data provided by Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), out of the overall vehicle count, the cars were the highest at 7.97 lakh. The toll revenue collected stands at Rs 13.95 crore.

According to MMRDA Commissioner Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, the number of commercial vehicles is not significant and therefore the projected vehicle count has not been achieved. However, he claimed that this is due to outside vehicles not knowing about this bridge yet. “With awareness and gradual passing of time, the count of commercial vehicles will grow as the users will become familiar with this new connectivity,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mukherjee also emphasised that the launch of the under-construction Sewri Worli Connector will also increase the daily vehicle count. Currently, the average daily ridership is 27,100. Whereas, close to 40,000 vehicles are expected to use the link in the opening year 2024.

[nachiket]

MTHL usage will see a significant jump once Worli-Sewri connector is ready. But that passes through heavily built-up, congested and populated areas. Lot of work is still left and will take another few years to finish. It has to pass over three separate railway lines, the eastern freeway which is already elevated and another flyover as well. There are still land acquisition issues which haven't been sorted out since multiple buildings will have to be demolished. Do not expect this to be ready before 2027.

[hgupta]

I just concluded my visit to India. Overall I had a positive experience but I also experienced some disappointments. For example being, I saw so much trashed all along the highways of India when I traveled from Delhi to Haridwar and from Delhi to Corbett Park. The level of pollution and strewn trash is stunning. Don't state and local governments have budgets to include highway cleanup, trash pickup, and road repair & maintenance. Also lawn & median maintenance business is a huge unrealized business opportunity and can be if utilized properly be a jobs creator for millions of poor people, not to mention an untapped market for leaf blowers, trimmers, weed whackers, and mechanized road cleaner vehicles. Road repair & maintenance crews could be also a good source of job employment. You can set up verification of work timely completed in satisfactory manner by using aerial drones with sufficient imaging recognition software and AI to verify quality and on time completion.

As the French famously said, "We may not have resources but we have resourcefulness"

[vsunder]

Se La Tunnel Opened Prematurely

The Se la tunnel a game changer for movement towards Tawang and the LAC was scheduled to be inaugurated by PM Modi early March. However, an emergency situation arose as tourists and others got trapped due to avalanches and snowfall and so CM Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu took the step of inaugurating the tunnel earlier so that rescue operations could be mounted.

https://www.sentinelassam.com/north-eas ... ed-tourist

[vsunder]

Now that the Sela tunnel and Nechiphu tunnel is done, there are a number of other projects still ongoing that involves the BRO. BRO was the principal agency that constructed the Sela and Nechiphu tunnel, though actual execution of the Sela project was done by Patel Engineering out of Ahmedabad. One important project is the upgrade of Nyoma ALG(Advanced Landing Ground) to a full fledged IAF airfield which will allow fighters and heavy transports to land there, with a quick response to situations along the LAC. The Nyoma project is being overseen by an all woman BRO engineer group. The completion date for this upgrade is 2025. Project was inaugurated by Shri Rajnath Singh, RM in 2023.

[vsunder]

Two Bridges Across Ganga in Bihar.

Mokamah bridge that will replace a 60 year old bridge. Adjacent to it a railway bridge is being constructed for double track. Such bridges facilitate movement between North Bihar(also thus Northeast India, Sikkim etc ) and South Bihar. Completion June 2024. The videographer has made videos on the Indian Navy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUP8lwx-mK8


Kacchi Dargah Bidupur bridge across Ganga 22.6 km long (longest River bridge of India) and part of Patna ring road, completion December 2026-early 2027 expected

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyFrtdH98uQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8fc4MF7p2Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax9lHjJ8jzY

[A_Gupta]

Year wise user fee collection on national highways
Year Crores
2018-19 25,154.76
2019-20 27,637.64
2020-21 27,923.80
2021-22 33,907.72
2022-23 48,028.22
2023-24* 53,289.41
*Up to January 2024


Read more at:
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/in ... aign=cppst

Interest payments by the NHA:
Sl. No.,Year,Interest Amount (crores)
1, 2013-14, 1375.03
2, 2014-15, 1780.03
3, 2015-16, 2168.25
4, 2016-17, 3251.73
5, 2017-18, 5545.00
6, 2018-19, 10121.55
7, 2019-20, 13782.00
8, 2020-21, 18839.67
9, 2021-22, 23860.72
10,2022-23, 24866.93

From:
https://data.gov.in/resource/year-wise- ... 13-14-2022

[srin]

The NHAI debt burden is a serious issue. But because of fastag, there is a likely drastic reduction in toll leakage and so, with predictable and increasing toll collection, asset monetisation with InvITs, the debt should be somewhat sustainable.

[A_Gupta]

The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture (Chair: Mr. V. Vijayasai Reddy) presented its report on ‘Operation and Maintenance of National Highways and Management of Toll Plazas’ on February 8, 2024. Key observations and recommendations of the Committee include:

At the link below:

https://prsindia.org/policy/report-summ ... l-highways

[A_Gupta]

After the above:
https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2015548

“ National Highways Infra Trust (NHIT), the infrastructure Investment Trust by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), has successfully concluded fund-raising through ’InvIT Round-3’forNational Highway stretches of aggregate length of 889 kilometers at an Enterprise Value of over Rs. 16,000 crore, which is the largest monetization by NHAI and one of the largest transactions in the history of Indian road sector.The Letter of Acceptance (LOA) to raise the highest ever concession value through ’InvIT Round-3’was issued last month in February 2024.”