India Builds Over 3,600 km of High-Speed Corridors in Five Years: TN & AP Among Top Builders

India has built more than 3,660 km of high-speed corridors during the last five financial years, said the Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in the Lok Sabha on Sunday. It was “maintained” by roads and highways minister Nitin Gadkari in a written response in the Rajya Sabha, an overwhelming keenness of the government to enhance and upgrade road infrastructure.

The average pace of highway construction went up to 31 kilometres per day between FY20 and FY24 from 22 km per day in FY14–FY19. This acceleration, as per the Gadkari is due to planning, execution and smart policy changes.

Maharashtra again emerged as the best contributor with more than 9,300 km of national highways built around this time. Other leading states include Rajasthan (4,148 km), Uttar Pradesh (4,016 km), Madhya Pradesh (3,921 km), Andhra Pradesh (2,686 km), and Tamil Nadu (2,626 km).

Countrywide, more than 22,000 km of four-lane and above-configuration highways were built to increase the road capacity. Maharashtra was again way ahead with 3,140 km, followed by Uttar Pradesh (2,200 km), Madhya Pradesh (1,222 km), Odisha (1,122 km), Karnataka (1,088 km) and Tamil Nadu (1,030 km).

To sustain this rapid expansion, the government has propelled a series of initiatives:

• Corridor-based planning: Identification and fast-tracking of niche economic corridors.

• PM GatiShakti Integration: The adoption of integrated, data-driven planning through the National Master Plan.

• Innovative financing: enhanced budget allocations and PPP models along with Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs)

• Quicker Clearances: Each project can leverage digitized land acquisition (Bhoomi Rashi) and environmental approvals (PARIVESH portal).

Enhanced Ecosystem For Execution: Support to indigenous contractors, reforms in dispute resolution, and enabling real-time monitoring with the use of drone monitoring and geographic information system-based tools.

Supporting the deployment of new technologies — for instance, the use of modern materials, smarter designs, and digital systems to enable new sustainable designs.

The growth of infrastructure is regarded as a vital facilitator of economic activity, and it is anticipated that the consequent connectivity improvements will cut logistics expenses and stimulate regional growth.

It is about doing roads differently- not just building more roads but about providing high-quality infrastructure where speed and sustainability are at the centre of it, as Gadkari pointed out.