PM Gati Shakti: National Highway Network To Be Increased To Two Lakh Route Km By 2024-25

The road transport sector in the country is headed for exceptional work if the plans of the Union government get fructified as stated. Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi launched PM Gati Shakti - National Master Plan for multi-modal connectivity on Wednesday (13 October).

Under the plan, the government aims to increase the national highways network in the country to around two lakh route km by 2024-25.

The mega infrastructure plan also includes completing 5,590 km long four and six-lane highways in coastal areas and connecting the capital cities of North East Region (NER) with four-lane roads or two alternate alignments of two-lane configurations each.

The Gati Shakti – National Master Plan for Multimodal Connectivity, a digital platform, will bring 16 Ministries, including Railways and Roadways, together for integrated planning and coordinated infrastructure connectivity projects.

It will incorporate the infrastructure schemes of various Ministries and State Governments like Bharatmala, Sagarmala, inland waterways, dry/land ports, UDAN etc.

Economic Zones like textile clusters, pharmaceutical clusters, defence corridors, electronic parks, industrial corridors, fishing clusters, Agri zones will be covered to improve connectivity and make Indian businesses more competitive.

The plan will leverage technology extensively, including spatial planning tools with ISRO imagery developed by BiSAG-N (Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Applications and Geoinformatics).