India’s Infrastructure Boom: Key Developments and Achievements

India has emerged as an economic world leader with its infrastructure development, as huge investments drive growth in important sectors. The last decade of India saw infrastructure expenditure increasing to ₹10 lakh crore in the year 2023-24.

PM Gati Shakti: A Game-Changer:

A major driving force behind this momentum is the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP), which was introduced in 2021. It brings together various ministries, such as Railways and Roadways, to bring about streamlined planning and execution of infrastructure. To date, by October 2024, 44 Central Ministries and 36 States/UTs have been brought under the fold, with 1,614 data layers being integrated to increase efficiency.

Some of the success stories accomplished under PM Gati Shakti include an assessment of 208 large infrastructure projects aggregating ₹15.39 lakh crore that meet the norms on the anvil. India’s ranking of the World Bank Logistics Performance Index has improved from 44 in 2018 to 38 in 2023. Other than this, the National Logistics Policy which was rolled out in 2022, has since then, been implemented in 26 states.

Expanding Roadways & Highways: India has the world’s second-longest network of roads; its National Highways (NH) are the backbone of the transport infrastructure of India. The NH network has witnessed remarkable expansion: –

• 2004: 65,569 km
• 2014: 91,287 km
• 2024: 1,46,145 km

In particular, NH four-lane and wider constructions jumped from 18,371 km in 2014 to 48,422 km in 2024 an increase of 2.6 times while high-speed corridors had increased only by 2,138 km by 2024 from only 93 km back in 2014.

Under flagship projects like Bharatmala Pariyojana and SARDP-NE, the pace of highway construction has picked up. The NH construction rate has increased from 12.1 km per day in 2014-15 to 33.8 km per day in 2023-24, a 2.8-fold increase.

Infrastructure is emerging as the backbone of India’s economic ambitions, and continued investment and innovation are going to further drive growth and global competitiveness.