Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Feb 4: India’s aggressive highway expansion over the past five years has not only transformed road connectivity but also emerged as a major engine of job creation, Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari told Parliament on Wednesday.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Gadkari said the government has constructed 57,125 km of National Highways during the last five years, achieving an average construction pace of 34,215 lane-km annually. This sustained push has generated employment of nearly 33 crore person-days every year, accounting for both direct and indirect jobs.

Looking ahead, the government has set ambitious targets for high-speed road infrastructure. Gadkari said 18,000 km of access-controlled National Expressways are planned to be operational by 2028–29, while around 26,000 km of such expressways are targeted to be awarded by 2032–33. The development of ring roads and bypasses for cities with populations exceeding five lakh is also being taken up on priority to decongest urban areas.

Beyond highways, the government is focusing on improving connectivity to ports based on priorities set by the Ministry of Shipping, Ports and Waterways, as well as linking key industrial nodes identified by the National Industrial Corridor Development Corporation (NICDC). These initiatives, Gadkari said, are expected to significantly boost logistics efficiency and act as a strong catalyst for economic growth.

Describing infrastructure as the “prime mover” of the economy, the minister highlighted the dramatic expansion of India’s National Highway network. Its length has grown from 91,287 km in March 2014 to 1,46,572 km at present. With higher budgetary allocations over the years, the quality of highways has also seen substantial improvement.

Gadkari noted that access-controlled National High-Speed Corridors and Expressways have expanded sharply, from just 93 km in 2014 to 3,052 km currently. Similarly, the length of four-lane and wider National Highways, including expressways, has increased 2.6 times — from 18,371 km in 2014 to 48,568 km now.

At the same time, the share of narrow highways has fallen significantly. Roads with less than two lanes now account for only 9 per cent of the total National Highway network, compared with 30 per cent in 2014. These improvements, he said, have enhanced connectivity between urban centres, rural areas and industrial regions, while also improving overall logistics performance.

Citing a study by IIT Kanpur, Gadkari pointed out that the construction of just one lane-km of National Highway generates 4,478 person-days of direct employment and 5,297 person-days of indirect employment. Over the longer term, increased economic activity triggered by highway development leads to an additional 52,393 person-days of induced employment per lane-km over seven years.

“These numbers underline how infrastructure development not only builds roads but also builds livelihoods and fuels sustained economic growth,” the minister said.