The growth of highway construction will drive the economy of the nation to newer heights.

- Harendra Singh

Chairman and Managing Director, H.G. Infra Engineering

How is Bharatmala Pariyojana pushing the development of Indian roads & highways sector?

India has the second-largest road network in the world, which certifies that the economy's growth is consequent to the growth of the highway sector. Analysing this and critical infrastructure gaps, the government launched Bharatmala Pariyojana in 2017, which has brought an upsurge of development and opportunities in the sector.

The set target for the Bharatmala Phase-1 is 34,800 km connecting 600+ districts in the nation. The program signalled a paradigm shift to the corridor approach of infrastructure development. It focuses on developing 24,800 km of dedicated expressways, access-controlled economic corridors, associated feeder routes, coastal and port connectivity, border and international connectivity corridors. In addition, 10,000 km of ongoing NHDP projects are envisioned as part of the overall program covering a length of 34,800 km. Another key component of the program is the development of 22 greenfield expressways and access-controlled corridors of over 7,900 km at Rs 3.3 lakh crore.

The Ministry has set up various departments to delegate power, improvise the quality of roads and fasten the procedures involved. This project will enhance existing corridors, lower accident rates and improve logistics efficiency.

How do you look at the progress of the Bharatmala project and highway construction in the country?

Over the past two years, there have been delays due to the pandemic, land acquisition procedures, obtaining forest and environment clearances, and extended rains, which has slowed down the progress and caused hindrances. This has led to a delay in achieving the targeted timeline for the completion of BMP Phase-1 by five years.

Although, the highways sector is consistently moving towards newer heights with effective interventions through various schemes and programmes. The Ministry is envisaging the movement of both passengers and goods through its smart mobility mission under Bharatmala Pariyojana. The integrated multimodal infrastructure planning to reduce logistics costs in the country is a cornerstone of Bharatmala Pariyojana. Integrated road and rail corridors, port and inland waterway terminal connectivity corridors and utility corridors are planned. In addition, to enable seamless multimodal  freight and passenger movement, Multimodal Logistics Parks at 35 locations and passenger intermodal stations are planned at Varanasi, Nagpur and Katra.

Through such steps, Bharatmala Pariyojana is envisioned to bring connectivity, inclusivity, and prosperity to the billions of people in the country. It also aims to eliminate several chokepoints to ease the freight movement and decongest traffic.

How is the trend in highway construction in the post pandemic scenario?

Post pandemic, the highway construction industry has been consistently touting the use of technologies in its operations. The government has also taken a few industry-friendly measures. The speedy focus from the government in the form of various schemes like the Gati Shakti Master Plan for expressways, Bharatmala Pariyojana, NIP, InvITs and easing the procedures will prove beneficial to economic growth for the country as a whole. Owing to the pandemic, local for vocal has been widely put into consideration by the companies.

Further, the growth of highway construction will drive the economy of the nation to newer heights. It will open up gates for several growth areas and create tremendous job opportunities reducing unemployment and helping in materialising the 'Make in India' Mission.

The Budget 2022 has announced plans to add 25,000 km of highways in 2022-23. In this backdrop, how do you see the growth of highway construction?

In Budget 2022, the government not only displayed forethought but excellent management of its finances. The allocation for MORTH has seen a 68% increase with approximately Rs 1,99,107.71 crore set aside in the Union Budget 2022-23. It is in line with the massive target Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has set for expanding the national highways network by 25,000 km in 2022-23. This size of capital investment and long-term awarding activity by the government will give EPC companies like HG Infra a position to prosper more.

The speed of highway construction needs to be increased considerably to meet the set target of highway construction. What is the way forward?

The way forward requires taking an innovative jump towards sustainable technologies to increase efficiencies.

There is still space for planning, financing and working on a speedy dispute resolution system, land acquisition processes and minimising bureaucratic procedures and individual preferences. A single-window approval system, if introduced for road projects and any other infra projects, may reduce the time taken in lengthy processes. It will ease out procedures for approvals like forest clearance, environment clearance, labour license, installation of HSD outlet, and approval from Ministries like Railway for ROBs, etc.

How is Bharatmala providing opportunities to materials and service providers in highway construction?

The Bharatmala Pariyojana aims to provide four-lane connectivity to 600+ districts across the nation. And with an aim to build 34,800 km of roads, ample opportunities have been generated for material and service providers. Through this scheme, industries providing raw material, construction equipment have been positively impacted. Additionally, the industry is highly promoting the construction technologies like BIM, CalQuan, and RFID-based technologies.

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