Kolkata: A nation on the move needs efficient transport policy. Many think that behind the prosperity of the US, its Interstate Highway System, largely built during the rule of President Dwight Eisenhower, played a major part. Similarly, the PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, launched on October 13, 2021, is a comprehensive initiative to improve multimodal infrastructure connectivity across India’s economic zones which has been designed to propel India towards economic prosperity.
The policy covers seven key sectors such as railways, roads, ports, waterways, airports, mass transport, and logistics infrastructure. A significant highlight of the plan is that it attempts to synchronise development along with state governments and different ministries. It has onboarded 44 Central ministries and 36 states and Union Territories. A milestone of assessing 208 big-ticket infrastructure projects worth Rs. 15.39 lakh crores, of various Ministries adhering to PM Gati Shakti principles has been achieved, according to official statement. The GatiShakti project ill help the government achieve the objective of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
Road network
India has succeeded in achieving about 60% expansion of the National Highways network in the past 11 years. The length of National Highways was 91,287 km in 2013-14, which now stands at 1,46,204 km. The Indian road network is the second largest in the world.
At the end of FY25, India had more than 63 lakh km of road network — 1,46,204 km of National Highways, 1,79,535 km of State Highways and 60,19,723 km of other roads. The length of National High-Speed Corridors (HSC) increased from 93 km in 2014 to 2,474 km at present. Also, the length of four-lane and above NHs (excluding HSCs) jumped by 2.5 times from 18,278 km in 2014 to 45,947 km at present.
In 2013-14, the pace of NH construction was about 11.6 km/day, In 2025 it rose almost 2.5 times to about 34 km/day. There is an increase of 6.4 times in Ministry investment on road infrastructure between 2013-14 and 2024-25.
Bharatmala Pariyojana
The Bharatmala Pariyojana was approved by the Centre covering a length of 34,800 km with an estimated cost of Rs. 5.35 lakh crore. The objective of this project was to improve connectivity and reduce logistics cost. The vehicles: Economic Corridor, Inter Corridor, Feeder route, National Corridor efficiency improvement, Border and International Connectivity, Coastal & Port Connectivity Roads and Expressways along with residual National Highways Development Project. Projects covering a length of 26,425 km have been awarded under Bharatmala Pariyojana.
Major completed projects
Among the landmark projects completed by the Modi government are:
Atal Tunnel: This has the distinction of being the world’s longest highway tunnel above 10,000 feet. It was inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi on October 3, 2020. It cuts down the road distance by 46 Kms between Manali and Leh.
Eastern and Western Peripheral Expressway: The two projects of Peripheral Expressways around Delhi, comprising 135 km Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) was inaugurated by the PM on May 27, 2018. The Kundli-Manesar Section of the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal Western Peripheral Expressway was inaugurated on November 19, 2018.
Bogibeel Bridge: The PM inaugurated the Bogibeel bridge in Assam on December 25, 2018. It was built across the Brahmaputra is of immense economic and strategic significance.
Dhola-Sadia Bridge: The Dhola-Sadiya Bridge in Assam was to connect far-off areas and pave the way for their socio-economic devel bridge, with a length of 9.15 km.
Chenani-Nashri tunnel: The tunnel in J&K was opened in 2017. It is 9 km long and all-weather tunnel connecting Udhampur and Ramban. It is not only India’s longest highway tunnel under operation but also Asia’s longest bi-directional highway tunnel.
Dibang-Lohit River Bridge: It established all weather and 24×7 direct connectivity between Pasighat-Roing and Namsai-Tezu, reducing the distance between Roing and Pasighat and between Tezu and Namsai from 310 km to 75 km and from 195 km to 57 km respectively.
Kollam Bypass: Constructed at a cost of Rs 352 crore, this highway has three major bridges over Ashtamudi Lake.
Maitri Setu: the PM inaugurated ‘Maitri Setu between India and Bangladesh through video conferencing on March 9, 2021. It is built over the Feni River to link with Tripura with Chittagong in Bangladesh is 1.9 km long. It was built at a cost of Rs 133 crore.
Sudarshan Setu (Beyt Dwarka): The PM inaugurated Sudarshan Setu on February 25, 2024. It connects Okha mainland and Beyt Dwarka island and was built at a cost of around Rs 980 crores. It is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the country and is around 2.32 km long.
Sonamarg Tunnel (Z-Morh): It has a length 6.4 km on NH-01 in the UI of Jammu & Kashmir. It was inaugurated on January 13, 2025. It is located at an altitude of over 8,650 ft. above sea level and will enhance all-weather connectivity between Srinagar and Sonamarg enroute to Leh.
Wings to civil aviation sector
India’s railway budget has expanded by more than nine times in the past 11 years. The civil aviation sector has been aided by the operationalisation of regionals airports like the ones in Durgapur airport in West Bengal (in 2015), Shirdi Airport in Maharashtra (in 2017), Kannur Airport, Kerala and Pakyong Airport, Sikkim (in 2018), Kalaburagi Airport, Karnataka (in 2019), Kurnool Airport, Andhra Pradesh (in 2020), Kushinagar and Sindhudurg Airports (in 2021), Donyi Polo Airport, Itanagar (in 2022) and MOPA Airport, Goa (in 2023). These airports contributed to decentralizing aviation growth, increasing regional tourism, creating employment, and easing pressure on metro airports.
The PM GatiShakti National Master Plan, launched on October 13, 2021, is a comprehensive initiative to improve multimodal infrastructure connectivity across India’s economic zones and it has outlined the broad contours of the country’s policy to facilitate the country’s economy. Biz News Business News – Personal Finance News, Share Market News, BSE/NSE News, Stock Exchange News Today
