Since 2014, when Narendra Modi embarked upon his journey as Prime Minister of India to create a self-sufficient nation, where all sections of the society have access to basic amenities, the speed and scale of development has become the hallmark of a new rising India. Having succeeded to a great extent in instilling a culture of efficiency, transparency, faster and smoother last mile delivery of services, this government wanted to scale much far greater heights with better coordination and synergies among various union ministries and state governments, with a motto of “sabka sath, sabka vikas’ and envisioning making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.
In 2021, the Prime Minister launched ‘PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan’. The infrastructure sector was to be given greater ‘Shakti’ to build a new India. “With the resolve of Aatmanirbhar Bharat, the foundation of India for the next 25 years is being laid……We have not only developed a work culture of completing the projects in time but efforts are to complete the projects ahead of time,” the Prime Minister had said. It also showed how India was determined to make rapid strides after combating testing times of the geo-political crisis of pandemic that disrupted all developmental activities in the country.
This Master Plan, as conceived by the Prime Minister, aims at making India a developed nation in the next 25 years. It is essentially a digital platform that brings 16 Union Ministries together, including the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, for an integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects for a comprehensive and inclusive socio-economic progress in different parts of the country, especially all the aspirational districts, the tribal belts, the hill areas and the North-Eastern Region.
In the last few years, the government has ensured unprecedented focus on infrastructure through a holistic outlook. This helped to address the past issues through institutionalising holistic planning for stakeholders for major infrastructure projects. Instead of planning and designing separately in silos, the projects will be designed and executed with a common vision on a single platform under this National Master Plan. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, pioneering the pace of building a countrywide state-of-the-art multi-modal infrastructure, has made significant progress under this National Master Plan.
The Prime Minister would always add value and give innovative ideas to my various presentations before the cabinet. He constantly monitors and, in the case of some of the most prestigious projects, even personally supervises the progress and encourages all stakeholders, especially, the workforce for their valuable contribution. One such event where Prime Minister Modi via video conferencing laid the foundation stone was the two road projects aimed at improving connectivity to the temple town of Pandharpur in my home state Maharashtra. He laid the foundation stone for four-laning of five sections of Shri Sant Dnyaneshawar Maharaj Palkhi Marg and three sections of Shri Sant Tukaram Maharaj Palkhi Marg.
Seeing how he builds a connection, he asked for three things as blessings from “my Warkari brothers” — Trees along walkways along the highways, arrangement for drinking water at specific distances along the roads, and to make Pandharpur the cleanest pilgrimage site in India. The Prime Minister’s idea of development has two important aspects – modernity coupled with rejuvenation of cultural and civilisational heritage.
Our Bharatmala Pariyojana programme is both an enabler and beneficiary of other key initiatives of the PM such as Sagarmala, Dedicated Freight Corridors, National Logistics Policy and industrial corridors, UDAN-RCS, BharatNet, Digital India, Parvatmala and Make in India. The Bharatmala Pariyojana is an ambitious centrally-sponsored flagship programme for construction of new highway projects across the country. Special emphasis has been given to providing connectivity to far-flung border and rural areas including the tribal and backward areas.
The NHAI and NHIDCLare rapidly completing various Greenfield Expressways and 35 Multi-Modal Logistics Parks (MMLPs), as part of the Bharatmala Pariyojana. Some of the major Expressways and Corridors, which are under completion are Delhi – Mumbai Expressway, Ahmedabad — Dholera Expressway, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway, Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway, Ambala-Kotputli Expressway, Amritsar-Bhatinda-Jamnagar Expressway, Raipur-VZG Expressway, Hyderabad-VZG Expressway, Urban Extension Road-II, Chennai-Salem Expressway and Chittor-Thatchur Expressway.
Some of the major key infrastructure projects, which are at different stages of construction include the prestigious Zojila Tunnel and Z-morth which will connect Srinagar and Leh. All the unprecedented progress and development of road and highways infrastructure under my Ministry would not have been possible without the able and dynamic leadership and vision of our Prime Minister, who relentlessly works round-the-clock, and whose efforts and unstinted guidance have continuously directed us to realise his vision of new India. As our beloved and most adored Prime Minister turns 72nd on September 17, we all set to celebrate the day in a unique manner by dedicating all the development and progress of my Ministry in his honour on his birthday.
