A decade after the idea first came up—and within months of Mayawati announcing the ambitious 1,000-km Ganga expressway project last year—the Centre is finally taking its first step towards creating a massive ‘Indian National Expressway Network’. The proposed freeways will be spread across some 20,000 km across states, interlinking and complementing the massive National Highway Development Programme (NHDP). To be constructed on a Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis, the expressway network is to be built in a phased manner on a toll-based system, and the ministry has already invited consultancy bids to formulate its master plan. The National Expressway Network will roll out starting from the 13th five-year plan period, with phases of development spread between 2012, 2017 and 2022.

At present, India boasts of just two expressways: a 92-km stretch between Mumbai and Pune and 93 km between Vadodara and Ahmedabad. As part of NHDP VI, the ministry will be constructing 1,000 km of six-lane intercity expressways between Vadodara-Mumbai, Delhi-Meerut, Bangalore-Chennai and Dhanbad- Kolkata. However, the ministry woke up to the growing demand for a planned expressway grid only after the Mayawati Government announced the ambitious 1,000-km Ganga expressway in Uttar Pradesh, ordering an immediate blueprint for India’s expressway grid.

“The need for expressways is felt in view of the massive increase in traffic volume across all national highways and state highways. While the NHDP is on, it is not the only solution, as there is mixed traffic, no access control and habitation by the roadside. So there is a strong case for access-controlled expressways. While the ministry has been estimating—as per a 1998 study—that some 15,000 km of expressways would suffice, in view of the changing transport scenario and several states now planning their own expressways, a fresh plan of action needs to be detailed,” said a senior official.

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