Road Infrastructure Projects in India

A Research Report

School of Petroleum Management

By:
1. Akanksha Kumari 2. Nishit Jain (MBA Energy & Infrastructure) School of Petroleum management Gandhinagar, Gujarat
6/18/2013

Table of Contents:

Executive Summary

A. Introduction

B. Current Scenario

C. Financing road infrastructure projects Source of Investment, PPP Model, Investment analysis, Issues and challenges

D. Social cost benefit analysis of road infrastructure projects Benefits & Costs of Indian Roads

E. Government Role & Support National Highway Development Project (NHDP)

F. Research & Development in Road Infrastructure Emerging technologies- Eco-friendly products, Recycling, Flexible concrete pavement technology, Jute Geo Textile, Impacts G. Yamuna Expressway Study report Objectives, Developer, Financing the project, Boost to real estate, Expressway advantages.

H. Major Setbacks and Future Scope I. References

J. Appendix
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The purpose of this report is to understand the importance of road infrastructure in India and to highlight the progress and initiatives that are being taken by the government to improve the current road model. The focus of the report to is to examine the current methods being adopted by the government to improve the road infrastructure in India and the difficulties and setbacks being faced by them in the implementation of their plan. The report examines the current scenario of roads in India and the mechanism involved in financing a road infrastructure project. The public-private partnership used for construction of road project is analyzed to look into the merits and demerits of the model. A Social cost benefit analysis of roads is also done to highlight the importance of roads for overall development of the country. Various initiatives taken by the government in the field of road projects and the progress made in the research and development for road construction is highlighted in the report. A currently concluded public-private partnership project, Yamuna Expressway, connecting Greater Noida to Agra has also been studied to showcase the importance of the road infrastructure for the Indian economy. From this research report it is concluded that to have a continuous and compounding growth of our Nation, it is very essential to build, develop and foster our Infrastructure sector, especially Roads, as they carry the seeds for running the economy. Investing in Road Infrastructure seems promising with fruitful gains, so with creative investment tools, strategic plans and robust reforms, there is no stopping for India to become the most progressive-economically developed nation.

A. INTRODUCTION: India has one of the largest road networks in the world of 4.2 million km at present. Roads carry about 65% of freight and 85% of passenger traffic in the country. The countrys road network consists of expressways, national highways, state highways, major district roads and rural roads. Road infrastructure plays a key role in reducing the poverty of the people living in the country. A road provides connectivity to markets, schools, healthcare facilities etc. which results in economic and social growth of the country. An investment in roads not only provides cheaper and more efficient movement of people and goods across cities but also affects the distribution of economic activity across cities. Roads alone account for 7% of the growth in total output of rural areas. Roads and highways are the lifeline of the country and their development is crucial for the social and economic transformation of the country. B. CURRENT SCENARIO: The total length of expressways and national highways constitute about 3% of the total road network in the country while the state highways, major district roads and rural roads constitute remaining 97% of the road network. Indias national highway network which was just 23,000 km in 1947 has tripled to 70, 934 km in 2012. The private sector participation which was just 5% in 2004 has increased to 34% during the five year plan of 2007-2012.An increase in participation by private sector would mean a huge investment by the private players in roads and highways sector under the public-private partnership.
Indias road network is 3rd largest after U.S & China National Highways are 2% of the network but carry 40% of the total traffic.

Courtesy: Mercator Global

Figure 1 3

The ministry of Road Transport and highways which is responsible for the development and maintenance of national highways in the country are continuously working on improving the growth rate of roads and to reduce the wide gap between the between the demand and supply of road services in the country.

C. FINANCING ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS Acknowledging the fact that the Infrastructure sector forms the arteries and veins of a growing country like India, it is very important to build, develop and sustain the Infrastructure sector. To do that, it is crucial to strategically formulate an investment plan that will benefit the

Government, the financers and the society in large. Road infrastructure projects are inherently capital intensive due to the risks it carries throughout the project execution, namely, land acquisition, tax, inflation, delays in approvals etc. Pre 1991, the Government tried its best efforts to build a sustainable Infrastructure plan. But with the continuous growth of the country and India emerging as a fastest growing economy , it realized the need of back up and support from public and private firms. Since the economic liberalization of 1991, India has started to privatize government-owned businesses and to make space for Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in the provision of infrastructure. The Indian government realizes that there is a significant gap between the investment needs and the government funding, and this gap cannot be filled by assistance from the multilaterals, like the World Bank, alone.

SOURCES OF INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT IN INDIA Broadly, the sources of Investment in Indian Infrastructure can be classified as Equity & Debt. Keeping these two as the threshold, the financial resources can be of two nature- Domestic or External. Domestic resources may include Domestic investors Public Utilities

Dedicated Government Funds Institutional investors Domestic Commercial banks ( 3-5 year tenor) Domestic term lending institutions ( 7 -10 year tenor) Domestic bond markets ( 7 10 year tenor) Specialized infrastructure financing options such as infrastructure debt funds

External resources may include Foreign investors Equipment suppliers ( in collaboration with domestic or international developers) Dedicated infrastructure funds Other international equity investors International Commercial banks (7-10 year tenor) Export credit agencies ( 7 -10 year tenor) International Bond markets ( 10 - 30 year tenor) Multilateral agencies ( With more than 20 year tenor)

PPP MODEL- AN UNDERSTANDING Governments typically have a number of objectives when building infrastructure: getting good value for money, timely delivery, meeting public needs and so on. PPPs have shown their potential as an important tool to meet these objectives and address infrastructure shortages. For example, they provide new sources of capital for public infrastructure projects. Shifting the responsibility for arranging the financing to the private partner can help deliver infrastructure if a public entity is unwilling or unable to shoulder the full debt or the associated risk of the project at a certain point in time. A public-private partnership, or PPP, refers to a contractual agreement formed between a government agency and a private sector entity that allows for greater private sector participation in the delivery of public infrastructure projects. In some countries involvement of private financing is what makes a project a PPP. PPPs are used around the world to build new and upgrade existing public facilities such as schools, hospitals, roads, waste and water treatment plants and prisons, among other things. Compared with traditional procurement models, the
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private sector assumes a greater role in the planning, financing, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of public facilities. Risk associated with the project is transferred to the party best positioned to manage it. Some of the most common PPP models are described below.

A. Design-Build (DB): Under this model, the government contracts with a private partner to design and build a facility in accordance with the requirements set by the government. After completing the facility, the government assumes responsibility for operating and maintaining the facility. This method of procurement is also referred to as Build-Transfer (BT). B. Design-Build-Maintain (DBM): This model is similar to Design-Build except that the private sector also maintains the facility. The public sector retains responsibility for operations. C. Design-Build-Operate (DBO): Under this model, the private sector designs and builds a facility. Once the facility is completed, the title for the new facility is transferred to the public sector, while the private sector operates the facility for a specified period. This procurement model is also referred to as Build-Transfer- Operate (BTO). D. Design-Build-Operate-Maintain (DBOM): This model combines the responsibilities of design-build procurements with the operations and maintenance of a facility for a specified period by a private sector partner. At the end of that period, the operation of the facility is transferred back to the public sector. This method of procurement is also referred to as Build-Operate- Transfer (BOT). E. Build-Own-Operate-Transfer (BOOT): The government grants a franchise to a private partner to finance, design, build and operate a facility for a specific period of time. Ownership of the facility is transferred back to the public sector at the end of that period. F. Build-Own-Operate (BOO): The government grants the right to finance, design, build, operate and maintain a project to a private entity, which retains ownership of the project. The private entity is not required to transfer the facility back to the government. G. Design-Build-Finance-Operate/Maintain (DBFO, DBFM or DBFO/M): Under this model, the private sector designs, builds, finances, operates and/or maintains a new facility under a long-term lease. At the end of the lease term, the facility is transferred to the public sector. In some countries, DBFO/M covers both BOO and BOOT.
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In India, for example, the private financing of NHDP under PPP frameworks takes place as per Build Operate and Transfer (BOT)-Toll/Design Build Finance Operate and Transfer (DBFOT), BOT (Annuity) and Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).

INVESTMENT ANALYSIS So Far In eleventh plan, a total investment of Rs. 27 lakh crores (eleventh plan 2011/12 prices) was made towards infrastructure development. This investment at 7.22 percent of GDP (average) represents a significant shift from 5.02 percent of GDP (average) invested during tenth plan1. This sharp increase in total infrastructure investment was largely due to the rapid rise in investment by the private sector especially in power and telecommunications.

Figure 2: Total Infrastructure Investment break up into public and private investment as pet 11th Five Year Plan

Interim Report of the High Level Committee (Planning Committee)-Aug 2012

Seeing the Future Planning commission is targeting an investment of 51 lakh crores over the duration of the twelfth five year plan which is almost double the amount proposed under the eleventh plan. While the share of public investment is projected to decrease from 62% to a level of 53% in the twelfth plan, the share of private investment is projected to increase from 38% (eleventh plan) to 47% (twelfth plan) of the total investment.2 Planning commission is expecting private sector to play a key role in twelfth plan with an overall investment growth of 131%. Private investment is projected to grow in all the infrastructure sectors with a projected to growth of >100% in Road sector. Overall private sector investment will be a key to success of infrastructure development under twelfth five year plan.

Figure 3: Projections of Investments in Infrastructure, for 12th Year and Sector-wise

Interim Report of the High Level Committee (Planning Committee)-Aug 2012

FUNDING THE GAP In twelfth five year plan, planning commission is projecting an investment of Rs.51 lakh crores. About 53% of this is expected to be funded through budgetary support and rest will need to come from private sector funding.3 Based on estimated funding flows from various sources and the incremental investment required, twelfth plan will have a huge funding gap and will need to channelize an additional private sector investment of about Rs.6.08 lakh crores over the duration of the plan. This is assuming that budgetary support remains same. In the given macro-economic environment, this will be huge challenge and wont be possible without the radical reforms.

Figure 4: Estimated funding gap

RBI, Interim report of the High Level Committee (Planning Commission) - Aug 2012

ISSUES AND CHALLENGES CONSTRAINING INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING Looking at the figures above of the projected growth of Road and Bridges projects in 12th Five Year Plan and the gap that needs to be bridged, one can easily state that the Indian Infrastructure sector holds promising grounds for funding. This coupled with the reforms brought in by the Government of India in recent times ensures that there is a huge potential in investing in this country. It will encourage the private sector in taking on a larger and more diverse role from being an infrastructure builder (under a publicly financed arrangement) to an infrastructure developer (under PPP structures which include private finance). But along with varied combinations of funding between Public and Private, comes a certain degree of risk and challenge. The guidelines of FDI appear as opportunity and threat to the local players. Issues such as who is having more capital and better technical expertise can become quite a challenging task for domestic players. But these days, even the domestic players are increasing their competitive advantage and giving a fair fight to the foreign players. Hence, it is expected that even if these potential bidders work collaboratively or individually, a good amount of fund can be generated.

Other roadblocks could be delays in approvals, land acquisition, environment clearances, change of Government, change in policies and reforms. Based on the Literature Survey, we have come across the following issues and challenges that need to be addressed: 1. Limited access to bank finance 2. Stringent guidelines towards investment in infrastructure bonds 3. Statutory restrictions imposed by Government of India on infrastructure 4. Limit from Equity market 5. Growing perception among equity shareholders regarding termination of payment 6. Restriction of inflow of fund as per PFRDA4 guidelines and Sovereign credit rating

Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority

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D. ROAD INFRASTRUCTURE

SOCIAL COST- BENEFIT ANALYSIS

It is an established fact that road infrastructure is necessary for the development of the country. Poor roads leads to loss to the economy, estimated to be Rs 20,000-30,000 crores annually. As the national economy is growing at the rate of 7% per annum, it has become necessary for the roads infrastructure to also grow at a minimum rate of 7% per annum. Considering the huge capital involved in developing the roads, it becomes necessary to do a comprehensive project evaluation to ensure benefits on the money spent. Identification of Economic benefits and costs of Road projects: The economic benefits and costs of the construction of roads in India require the identification of changes it has brought to the society. These benefits and costs occur due to the changes in the relative prices as the economy adjusts itself to the provision of public services, like roads. An overview of social costs and benefits can serve as a basis for prioritizing separate measures when making policy plans and deciding investment options. Social Cost benefit analysis will help in identifying the relevant project impacts, the economic relevance of those impacts in order to help in decision making of whether to go ahead with the project or not. Also the social cost benefit analysis will help in looking at the costs and benefits of the project under consideration from the societys point of view.
Employment Generation Improved connectivity Public transport reliability Increase in commercialization Profitability of Industries

Benefits of Roads

Costs of Roads
`

Construction & maintenance costs Loss of Agricultural Land Rehabilitation of people Poor Air quality, increased noise Increase in accidents & fatalities

Figure 5: Social Benefits and costs of roads

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Benefits of Indian Roads: Employment Generation The construction and maintenance of roads provide employment to hundreds of skilled and un-skilled people. Many government schemes like the Jawahar Gram Samridhi Yojana or Sampoorna Grameen Samridhi Yojana are aimed at creating need based infrastructure in villages. The implementation of these schemes plays a great role in improving the rural quality of life and generates jobs for the local people as well. Improved connectivity The networking of roads increases the connectivity of smaller and arterial roads with the main roads/highways. The building of rural roads helps in linking the villages with other villages. Theses rural roads also help in linking the agricultural fields with the villages and cities which in turn bring the farmers a greater market at their door-step to sell their items. Also the road connectivity in the villages helps people to have greater access to healthcare and education. Increase in commercialization The increased economic activity helps in increasing the market base for the seller, which in turn reduces the cost of the product because of increased availability of goods. Also the goods reaching on time to the markets help in reducing the cost of inventory at various industries and thus improving their profitability. Reliability of public transport Better road infrastructure increases the reliability of public transport, with more people using it rather than their personal vehicles. This helps in decreasing the fuel consumption of the country (India being a net importer) which in turn reduces the import bill of the country and improving the current account deficit of the country.

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Costs of Indian Roads: Construction and maintenance costs Huge amount of capital is invested in building the road network with requires continuous maintenance in keeping it in good condition. Government has been actively engaged in involving the private sector to meet the growing demand. Huge investment which is required for the road construction is achieved through the public- private partnership, which has gained significant importance in the country. Loss of agricultural land The road to be laid could pass through the agricultural land which would lead the government to take over the land for road development. This would result in loss of productive agricultural land to the farmers. This would also decrease the agricultural production and the availability of food to the growing population. Rehabilitation of people The laying of road could also pass through urban habitation displacing the people residing there to different places. The people may be displaced far away from their workplace which would result in increase in cost of transportation, affecting their income generating capabilities and affecting their health. Increase in pollution The emission by the movement of transport on the roads leads to deterioration in air quality and increasing the pollution in nearby villages or regions. The air pollution also leads to increase in diseases and health hazards to the people living in villages and towns. The increased noise levels due to the transport on the roads also affect the nearby habitants. Increase in accidents/fatalities The increased transport leads to congestion on the roads causing delay for the commuters. The travellers reach their destination late and affects their working and personal life. The

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increased traffic on the roads also leads to increase in accidents and fatalities. This could hamper the income earning potential for entire families.

E. GOVERNMENT ROLE & SUPPORT:

The ministry of road transport & highways is primarily concerned with the development of national highways in India. The ministry is currently following an agency system in developing roads in India. State Government, the Border Road Organization and the National Highway authority of India acts as agencies of the Central Government. The prime focus of the government is to develop roads of international standards, which are to provide facilities for uninterrupted flow of traffic with enhanced safety measures including better riding surface, better road geometry, better traffic management, service roads, grade separators, over bridges and underpasses, by-passes and way side amenities. To execute its plan the ministry has undertaken a National Highways Development Project which is being implemented in phases and also the improvement of 54,500km of arterial roads is being done to make it to international standards. A Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North Eastern Region (SARDP-NE) is being undertaken to widen 10,141 km of National Highways ensuring connectivity of 88 districts in the north eastern region to the National Highways. A special programme for development of roads in extremism affected areas have also been undertaken which connects 34 districts in 8 states of Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. The ministry is also providing funds from Central Road Fund to the state governments and Union Territories to connect the state roads and other rural roads under the scheme of Inter-state connectivity & Economic Importance. The ministry in order to attract private investment in road sector has started offering projects at Build, Operate, and Transfer (BOT) basis allowing entrepreneurs to collect their investment from tolls on selected stretches. Also the government initiative to provide capital grant of 40% of the project cost and 100% tax exemption in any consecutive 10 years out of 20 years is seen as positive step towards public-private partnership.

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National Highway Development Project (NHDP):

The national highway development project is a project which is undertaken by the government to upgrade, rehabilitate and widen major highways in India to international standards. It is the largest project ever undertaken by the government and is being managed by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). The project is currently being implemented in seven phases by the National Authority of India (NHAI). A detailed plan of building this project is shown in Appendix I.

NHDP Phase I (Golden Quadrilateral): Golden Quadrilateral is a highway network connecting four metros Delhi Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai having a total length of 5846km. The largest highway project in India and the fifth longest in the world, is built at a cost of Rs600 billion. The project was launched in 2001 and was completed in January, 2012.

NHDP Phase II (North-South & East-West Corridor): The second phase comprises of national highways connecting Srinagar to Kanyakumari and Silchar to Porbandar. The total length of the corridor is 7142km and is currently under implementation with more than 90% of the work completed. The total cost of the phase is Rs 350 billion which is being largely funded by the government.

NHDP Phase III: The government has approved to upgrade 12,109km of national highways on Build, Operate and transfer (BOT) basis under the public-private partnership model.

NHDP Phase IV: Widening of 15,000 km of highway are currently being undertaken to convert the existing single lane highways into two lanes with paved shoulder.

NHDP Phase V: It plans to upgrade 5000km of four lane highways into six lane highways in order to deal with the increasing traffic.
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NHDP Phase VI: The phase plans on constructing expressways that would connect major commercial and industrial townships. Plans to connect Vadodara to Mumbai, Chennai to Bangalore, and Kolkata to Dhanbad through expressways have currently been identified and is currently under feasibility study.

NHDP Phase VII: This phase includes improvements to city-road networks by adding ring-roads to enable easy connectivity with national highways to important cities. It also includes development of additional flyovers and bypasses along the highways to give growth to the housing development along the highways.

National Highway Development Project

16000 14000 12000 10000

Kms.

8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Planned Completed Phase 1 5846 5846 Phase II 7142 6138 Phase III 12109 5405 Phase IV 14799 207 Phase V 6500 1521 Phase VI 0 0 Phase VII 700 100

Figure: National Highway Development Project Progress

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F. ROLE OF R&D IN ROAD DEVELOPMENT:

A good transport system signifies the level of economic and industrial development in the country. With the growing construction of roads in India the role of R&D becomes very important considering the fact that a small technological advancement can bring a huge change in the current scenario. The main objective of research and development in road sector is to build reliable and environment friendly roads which has a longer-lasting life. The research in road sector should lead to reduction in maintenance and life-cycle costs and should be able to improve the performance and safety on roads. The various components of road R&D strategy should be improvement in design, modernization of construction techniques, introduction of improved materials, development and use of new technologies.

Emerging Technologies in Road sector: New technologies for road construction and its maintenance have been in demand in recent years. Improvements in the available technologies and implementing the same have resulted in excellent project outcomes in terms of saving of cost and time. The various advancements made in the area of research and developments are described below: Ecological friendly products: Several environment friendly enzymes have come in the market and the use of these products result in minimization, elimination of the use of aggregates. These products are being used at various construction sites to reduce the need for transporting of soil for long distances which result in economic cost and simplifies the work process. Soil stabilizing agents like Zym-tec, fuzibeton, terrazyme are climatically stable material and are suitable for stabilization of all types of soils. These are inorganic polymer that chemically binds with all compounds that improves the engineering quality of soil making them durable resulting in longer lasting roads.

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 Recycling Recycling is an important technology used in road rehabilitation. During the maintenance of roads the asphalt are recycled to be used again which decrease the maintenance cost in comparison to conventional methods used in maintenance. Recycled plastic, mainly polyethylene is also used to improve the bituminous mixture used in surfacing course of roads. Laboratory studies have shown that the addition of processed plastic to the bitumen improves the stability, strength and other desirable properties of bitumen concrete mixture. Flexible concrete pavement technology A new technology of cement concrete road construction has proved to be suitable for low volume traffic. Even though initial cost of constructing cement-concrete road is high as compared to conventional roads, the life cycle cost with maintenance cost is less compared to the conventional one. IIT kharagpur which has developed the technology has used it to create a model road in kharagpur. Jute Geo textile Jute Geo textile is a kind of natural textile material which is obtained out of yarn. This is used to mix with soil to improve the engineering properties of it. Textiles which have high moisture absorption, high initial tensile strength and excellent adaptability, increases the soil structure on degradation. Impacts of introducing innovative technologies The outcomes of applied research have led to accelerated construction, rehabilitation and reconstruction activities for roads. The new materials developed not only provide durability and reliability for roads but also has led to the reduction in cost of construction of roads. The use of ecological friendly and renewable products has helped in conservation of natural resources along with preservation of environment. Investment in research and development should be seen as a long term investment to put the country on the path of high growth.

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G. CASE STUDY YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY

Introduction: The Yamuna expressway is a 165km, six- lane access- controlled expressway which connects Greater Noida with Agra located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India. The signal-free stretch reduces the time travel between Agra and Delhi by 150 minutes, reducing the distance between the two cities by 211 km. The government of Uttar Pradesh decided to construct the expressway to reduce the travel time between Delhi and Agra and to cope up with the high traffic density. To accomplish this project, a statutory body of the government, Taj Expressway Authority was formed (TEA) on 20 th April 2001. TEA now is known as Yamuna Expressway Authority (YEA).

Objectives of the Project: Yamuna expressway was developed to provide a fast moving corridor to the commuters between Deli and Agra. The travel time between the two cities was expected to reduce considerably providing a base for industrial and urban development of the region. The project was expected to give a boost to the real estate development, tourism industry, industrial sector and agricultural sector in the region. Also the connection of the main townships and commercial centers through the expressway was to provide an accelerated movement of supplies during the time Yamuna floods and other emergencies.

Developer of the project: The 165km long expressway has been developed by Jaypee Group under Public-Private Partnership. An agreement between Yamuna Expressway authority and Jaiprakash industries limited was executed on 7th Feb, 2003. Jaypee infratech limited (JIL) was incorporated on April 5th 2007 as a special purpose vehicle to develop, operate and maintain the Yamuna expressway. The expressway was awarded on BOT (build, operate, transfer) basis, to be executed with full responsibility for financing, land acquisition, design, construction, operation and maintenance.

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The Yamuna expressway is entirely constructed in the state of Uttar Pradesh with its first 42kms passing through the Noida, Dankaur, Mirzapur and Jewar, followed by 18 kms to district Aligarh. The following 88kms are located in district Mathura passing through Matt, Raya, Baldev and Mahaban followed by 18kms ending in district Agra.

Courtesy: Udyog bandhu, Govt. of U.P

Financing of Yamuna Expressway: The total cost of the completion of the project was Rs 9739 crores which were funded through a debt: equity mix of 1.60. The total equity contribution of the project is Rs. 3739 crore, which includes Rs 1489 crore through real estate inflows during construction period. The total debt requirement of Rs. 6000 crore is financed to Jaypee group through the tie-up of Rs 3000 crore from ICICI bank, Axis bank and the remaining debt of Rs 3000 crore through SBICAP.

Courtesy: Jaiprakash associates limited

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The Yamuna Expressway is the largest Public Private partnership project till date in India and the first ever project where the real estate developmental rights has been transferred to the developer. The concession contract was awarded by the government of Uttar Pradesh to Jaypee associates through a special purpose vehicle, Jaiprakash Infratech Limited in 2003.

Boost to Real Estate: Yamuna expressway real estate market picked up as soon as the expressway neared completion. The prices of the area spurted by 10-15% since the opening of the expressway. The prices of Plot and apartment have appreciated from 15,000 per square yard to around 23000 square yard, seeing an increase in prices by 40 % in just one year. A scheme in the name of special development zone (SDZ) was launched by the Yamuna development authority for allotment of plots. Also a mega residential plot scheme comprising of 21000 nos. of plots of different sizes spread over an approx. area of 5500 acres along Yamuna expressway have been launched. Two residential townships in the form of plots and apartment s will be developed to facilitate the commuter. The objective of the scheme is to improve the economic development of the area by removing the disparity between rural and urban population.

Yamuna Expressway advantages: The biggest asset of the project is the reduction of travel time between Delhi and Agra to about 150 minutes. The expressway will serve as a platform for the development of residential, commercial and industrial on both the sides. Education sector will also get a boost as development of various schools and universities are in the pipeline. A special development zone for sports promoted by Jaypee group will be developed in a 1000 hectares area comprising of Buddha International Circuit, the formula one racing track and a hockey stadium. A metro station will also be developed linking the area to the metro network. Various big corporates are already planning to set-up heir offices in the region generating the opportunities of employment in the area. With world class amenities being developed around the area due to the excellent road infrastructure and connectivity, this area will be a cash cow investment in long term.

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H. MAJOR ISSUES & FUTURE SCOPE FOR ROADS IN INDIA:

Issues: The road infrastructure development in India is under huge pressure to develop new roads to meet the growing requirement of Indian economy. In addition to maintenance of roads, the expansion of existing network is becoming increasingly important. A 2009 study has shown that the congestion on Indian roads has reduced the speed of vehicles to 30-40 km/h, around 60 percent of roads need maintenance and around 40 percent villages in India did not have access to all-weather roads. The road fatality rate in India is one of the highest in the world with World Health Organization reporting around that 1lakh road accidents caused death every year. Due to the huge congestion on roads the fuel efficiency of vehicles is very low resulting in heavy pollution. These causes health problems, adverse climate effects and environmental damage.

Future Scope: Roads are a dominant mode of transportation in India today. Good connectivity in urban and rural areas has become necessary for the Indian economy. With the growth in Indian economy the demand for the development transport infrastructure and services has taken a sharp rise. In order to cope up with the demand the ministry of Road Transport & Highways has come up with an ambitious plan to construct 20kms of road per day or 7000kms of road per year. The ministry is planning to build 6 and 8 lane highways in the next 4-5 years costing over USD 80 billion. Also a green field project of building 16000 km of expressways at an investment of USD 100 billion is currently under the pipeline with ministry. To build world class roads and to make a good progress in road building, new techniques, new technologies and new equipment are being used. Government is giving encouragement to build more concrete roads than the conventional bitumen roads as the concrete roads have a life cycle of 50 years and also help save 15% in fuel consumption. The development of roads and highways by the government has been taken as a step in augmenting the infrastructure of the country.

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I. REFERNCES:
1. NHAI website: www.nhai.org 2. Ministry of Road Transport & Highways Outcome Budget 2013-14 3. Jaiprakash associates Investor Presentation 4. Infrastructure in India, PwC 5. The road-ahead-highways, PwC, 2013 6. Roads in India, Investment Promotion & Development Cell, 2012 7. Funding the Infrastructure Investment Gap, Deloitte, 2013 8. Interim Report of the High Level Committee (Planning Committee), Deloitte 2012

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J. APPENDIX I:

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