India’s national highways to match US standards by 2024, hopes Nitin Gadkari

Union Minister Nitin Gadkari hopes that India's national highways will soon match with the standards seen in the US. During a virtual address on Saturday, Gadkari said that national highways are being constructed at a very fast pace under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“National highways are growing at a very fast pace under the leadership of Modiji. In the coming three years, the entire country will get highways of American standard, so I believe. At one time we were constructing two km of road per day, and today we are constructing 38 km per day," Gadkari said.

To ensure right quality is being maintained while constructing highways, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) recently made it mandatory to use drones to record video of national highway projects. Video recordings will continue even after completion of projects to monitor maintenance work as well.

Gadkari's remarks came as he virtually dedicated a 3.75-km long four-lane elevated corridor in Deesa town in Gujarat to the nation. He said The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is currently involved in several projects in Gujarat, including the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway that will pass through seven districts of Gujarat, under the Bharatmala Pariyojana.

Gujarat's eight-lane Vadodara-Mumbai Expressway, which is a part of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, is a 125-km stretch connecting Vadodara to Kim in south Gujarat. Built at an cost of ₹8,711 crore, the expressway is expected to be completed by December 2021.

According to the MoRTH, the NHAI has increased national highway construction by a massive 73.5 per cent as compared to the same period last year. Gadkari had said that India has managed to add another 1,470 kms of national highways in the first two months of the ongoing financial year.

Earlier this year, the NHAI created a world record by completing a 25.54 km single lane road in just 18 hours. The NHAI had also created another world record in February for laying the highest quantity of concrete on a four-lane highway within one day. The feat was achieved by the contractor Patel Infrastructure and entered the India Book of Records and Golden Book of World Records.

The NHAI is now actively involved in the government's vision for electric mobility. The agency is planning to set up several EV charging stations that will help in boosting electric vehicle infrastructure in India in coming days.