Let our road-quality plan guide other infrastructure projects too

Reforms by India’s highways ministry should act as a cue for others to prioritize quality over cost

- ANUJ GUPTA & AARSHI TIRKEY

Public fury over India’s crumbling roads is no longer white noise; it’s a national reckoning.

With nearly 35% of rural roads and 25% of urban roads in need of urgent repair, and 177,177 lives lost to road accidents in 2024, the outrage is justified. Each crater isn’t just a crack in asphalt; it’s a dent in public safety.

In July, road transport minister Nitin Gadkari linked poor Detailed Project Reports (DPRs)-prepared by consultants selected through a Request for Proposal process to the increasing number of road accidents. The Gambhira Bridge collapse, which killed 22 people, exposed a crisis of road neglect and cost-cutting. Similar issues led to the Morbi bridge collapse, the NH-44 closure in Jammu and Kashmir, and cave-ins on national highway 66 in Kerala.

Government procurement is sometimes constrained by the selection of the lowest bidder (LI), which can compromise quality. Even the weighted average qualification criterion of Quality and Cost Based Selection (QCBS) has its limitations. But change is arriving, and for India’s infrastructure, it is set to be a game-changer. This year, the ministry of road transport and highways eliminated financial bids altogether for the hiring of consultants, leading to a new approach that aims for quality while meeting procurement norms.

This reform is not a routine highway-sector update. It is a template that other ministries must adopt for ports, railways and airports if India is to meet the ambitions of its National Infrastructure Pipeline and National Logistics Policy.