National Highway Policy

National Highway Policy

North-South & East-West Corridors

This plan aims to connect the northern most tip, Jammu to the extreme South - Kanyakumari. Two 8-lane, 7000-kms expressways are to be built for the purpose. According to the Chairman of the task force on infrastructure, Mr. Jaswant Singh, 30 points have been identified by the Government for the purpose.

The North-South Expressway goes from Jammu to Kanyakumari through Delhi, Bhopal, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Coimbatore, and the East-West Expressway runs from Silchar to Somnath through Calcutta.

The Golden Quadrilateral

Another ambitious plan on the anvil is the 5000 km Golden Quadrilateral project that aims to connect the four metros (Delhi, Calcutta, Mumbai, Chennai) via National Highways. 77 routes have been identified purpose, which will also connect major cities and ports.The existing National Highways are to be upgraded from 2-lanes lanes to 4-lanes and even at certain places to 6-lanes, depending upon the density of the traffic.

All this, however, requires a massive investment to the tune of Rs. 1,25,000 crores. The Government is in a position to pay Rs. 3000 crores and the cess on petrol and diesel will be able to bring in R. 4000 crores. To make this dream a reality, private companies will have to be brought in. These will then charge road tolls that are not feasible in the Indian context. The best remedy, therefore is to increase the number of lanes of those roads that already exist, and go for a step - by - step procedure.

For the moment therefore, the only possible option before India is to four-lane the two-lane highways and construct bypasses.

National Super Highway System

The Indian government's belated attempt to come up with some sort of a Highway Policy is a welcome step in the right direction, but, will it be implemented, or will it remain another scrap of paper, as countless other policies?