The upcoming roads & highways network will definitely boost all around economic growth of the country.

- Virendra D. Mhaiskar

Chairman & Managing Director, IRB Infrastructure Developers

How is Bharatmala Pariyojana project changing the phase of Indian roads & highways sector?

As envisaged by the Government of India, it is an attempt to bring the entire highways sector under one umbrella with the sole objective of optimising efficiency in passengers and goods movement across the nation. Since it is exclusively aimed at and hence planned to take care of the gaps in the existing roads and highways infrastructure through development of dedicated corridors for passengers, freight, feeder routes, connectivity etc., the network that will come up across the country will definitely boost all around economic growth.   

How do you look at the progress of highway construction under Bharatmala scheme?

Considering the standstill circumstances that arose in the sector because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the pace had been slowed down for a couple of years, as there was no activity going on. However, considering the budgetary focus on the sector and restarting of the projects, the activities in the sector have gathered pace again and are expected to meet the project execution targets with a slight delay.  

As of December 31, 2021, the MoRTH had approved and awarded 604 road projects with an aggregate length of 20,965 km under Bharatmala Pariyojana, which also include 131 residual NHDP works of aggregate length of 5,529 km with total capital cost of Rs. 641,713 crores.

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

The post-pandemic scenario seems to be satisfactory, as the year 2020-21 witnessed construction of more roads than that of the year 2019-20 and hopefully it would rise further in 2021-22.  

Just to elaborate, the MoRTH, despite Covid-19 Pandemic scenario, achieved a record breaking milestone of 37 km per day of highway construction in FY21. The annual project award by MoRTH has increased by 38% in the past three years from 5,494 km in financial year 2018-19 to 10,467 km in financial year 2020-21. 

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

The Government of India has given a massive push to the capital expenditure for key infrastructure sectors, especially highways, has got a big boost in Budget 2022-23. The total allocation for the highways sector has increased to Rs 1.99 trillion from Rs 1.18 trillion in FY 2021 22 (i.e. increase of 66.64%).

Coming to the sector specific budget announcement of adding 25,000 km highways to the existing network, there is also an announcement of mobility of Rs 20,000 crores funds to complement the public resources. This would bring a basket of ample opportunities for the private players in the road sector, which would further enhance construction activity.

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

To my opinion, the developer should not only have encumbrance free Right of Way (ROW) of land, but also be made free from other issues like tree cutting, which invites environmental issue; rehabilitations of project affected people; underground or over ground utility shifting; other clearances which are critical for the success etc. and support from financial institutions will definitely facilitate achieving the set target in roads construction.

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

The roads and highways infrastructure development sector is capital intensive, i.e. material intensive as well as labour intensive. It would boost sectors like cement, steel, equipment, allied industries, etc. as these are the primarily used materials in highway construction along with the bitumen. Similarly, the highway construction is labour-intensive, and the services sector will also have some lucrative opportunities to grow with.

What will drive the further growth of highway construction in future?

The Government of India has announced several flagship programmes namely Bharatmala Pariyojana, National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), Pradhan Mantri (PM) Gati Shakti National Master Plan, etc., which will provide impetus to the growth of highway construction in the coming years.

NIP is an investment plan for enhancing infrastructure in identified sectors, which is a first-of-its-kind exercise to provide world-class infrastructure across the country and improve the quality of life for all citizens.

The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan will encompass the seven engines for economic transformation, seamless multimodal connectivity and logistics efficiency. The projects pertaining to these 7 engines in the NIP will be aligned with PM Gati Shakti framework. PM Gati Shakti master plan for expressways will be formulated in 2022-23 to facilitate faster movement of people and goods.

The Government of India's focus on the initiatives like Make in India, Vocal for Local, etc. in various sectors will create demand for good quality roads and highways network and connectivity with other modes of transport like airways, railways, ports, etc. to mobilise the produce from these initiatives.

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