Long distance travelled, but ‘90% of India yet to be built'

From the year 2000, fast forward to 2024, and the country stands at a pivotal moment — one where roads stretch across vast distances, bullet trains are on the horizon, and ports hum with the promise of global trade dominance

- DHRUVAKSH SAHA & DEEPAK PATEL

When the 21st century dawned, India's infrastructure landscape was largely defined by slow progress, scattered projects, and limited private participation. Fast forward to 2024, and the country stands at a pivotal moment - one where roads stretch across vast distances, bullet trains are on the horizon, and ports hum with the promise of global trade dominance.

From highways connecting once-remote regions to aviation networks carrying millions, India's infrastructure story is one of transformation. Yet, this journey, spanning a quarter century, has been marked by both groundbreaking achievements and challenges, like stalled projects and safety concerns, with much left to build as the nation looks toward its ambitious future of being a $30 trillion economy by 2047.

Roads and Highways: The journey to growth

As India was about to complete a year of the new millennium, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, in December 2000, launched Phase-1 of the National Highways Development Programme - the golden quadrilateral, which was the largest highway development project in India at the time, and is seen by many as the first major step towards integrated infrastructure development in the country.

Now in 2024, India's national highway network has nearly tripled to 146,000 kilometres (km), with modern amenities like access-controlled expressways and GPS-based toll collection plazas. The added infrastructure, aided by the rapid rise of automobile ownership, has also allowed a private industry to flourish, with toll collections being a key part of the metamorphosis.

According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH), commuters have paid ₹2.1 trillion in tolls on national highways since the year 2000. Of this, ₹1.4 trillion has been pocketed by private corporations. The median compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of national highway tolls over the past 25 years is 12 per cent.