Modi govt 8 years: How PM developed urban infrastructure with swanky expressways, railways and airports
The pace of development both on approval of projects and execution has been impressive unlike situation during previous governments when projects were merely passed on paper but less execution on the ground.
Modi Govt 8 Years: Better infrastructure is one of the most important requirements for a strong economy as it helps set new businesses, and eases commute and logistics. The Narendra Modi government came to power on the plank of development and has focused immensely on developing better infrastructure across all sectors be it national highways, trains, new airports among others. MORE FROM MODI SPECIAL COVERAGE
The pace of development both on approval of projects and execution has been impressive unlike situation during previous governments when projects were merely passed on paper but less executed on ground.
Road connectivity - A complete overhaul
Under Modi government and his minister, Nitin Gadkari - the highway building man - the Indian road network has almost taken a leap. It changed the perception of country’s road network from one’s being called as potholes between roads to high-speed national highways, better road planning even between smaller distances.
Below is the total number of road network existing in India as per the NHAI annual report 2019-2020.
Places in India now have roads where they weren’t, 2 lanes have been changed to 4 lanes, existing 4 lanes to highway and expressways.
Road-driven logistics network, east-west peripherals, building of thousands of rail over bridges, Kashmir to Kanyakumari highway, Delhi-Meerut expressway (competed), Delhi-Mumbai expressway, Delhi-Dehradun, Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Jaipur, Mumbai-Pune, Ganga Expressway, are just some of the examples of completed, under-construction projects that are forever going to change commute between cities that will be more secure, safe, less time taking and contribute to overall development of infrastructure and economy.
According to the NHAI annuak report 2019-2020, here's a representation of corridor-wise existing road network in the country.
Char Dham all-weather road, Atal tunnel, focus on north-east connectivity and more
Work is underway to build all weather road covering char dham destinations, launching of Atal tunnel, various more tunnel projects to cut short travel time in hills is in continuous government focus to secure travel in hilly regions.
Another ambition of the Modi government is to flawlessly connect India’s north to eastern states including Assam, Arunachal, Tripura, others.
NHAI has achieved highest targets in terms of award of projects and length completed in the year 2019-20 (latest data available on NHAI site). A summary of length awarded and length completed since 2006-07 is as follows:
Railways
Last-mile connectivity such as new lines in Jammu and Kashmir, bringing new luxurious trains such as Vande Bharat, vista-dome coaches, improving existing trains facilities, increasing number of trains, doubling and electrification of tracks, facilities at railway stations such amenities, hotels, lounge, Wi-Fi and taking care of overall ease of travel with improved security, the Modi government has focused toward bringing an overhaul over a period of time.
Many projects have been delivered while some are close to completion.
Rapid rail
Not just the national railway is in focus, the government also invested in regional connectivity with speed and better facilities to further ease travel between cities.
One such project is the Regional Rapid Rail Transport System (RRTS). Under this, trains better than metro with more speed, better stations will make faster and secure commute between cities.
Several RRTS projects have been passed while construction of the first line between Delhi-Meerut is more than half-way through, with priority section is expected to be completed early by next year.
This project once completed will ease of traffic congestion between Delhi-Meerut and be a boon for daily travellers.
In addition to this, metro corridors in various other cities are proposed to further better connectivity and ease of travel.
Airports
More airports to serve domestic needs, new direct flights to international destinations, better facilities at airports have added to further enhance ease of travel.
Direct connectivity to foreign destinations helps both in inbound and outbound passenger traffic and contribute to the economy. Better air connectivity has also proved to be a boon for fast and secure logistics support which is an important driver for ease of business.
Ports and focus on water ways
Improved infrastructure at ports, focus on building dedicated water ways corridors using river network is also being promoted by the Modi government.
In fact, prime minister Modi himself travelled in sea-plane during one of his visit to Gujarat, just to promote it and call for investors.