With Indian economy on the upswing despite bad conditions worldwide, government is initiating action to improve infrastructure to keep up with the projected economic growth for the decade.

Kamal Nath, Road Transport and Highways Minister, is in Malaysia to meet government authorities and prospective investors. He said that last May, the pace of road building was just two kilometers a day. Now, it has increased to nine kilometers a day. The goal is to reach 20 kilometers a day by March-April.

This growth is essential to accomplish 7,000 kilometers of new highway a year to keep pace with the economic growth the country is able to generate. One of the main obstacles to economic growth is insufficient and collapsing infrastructure.

In the effort to make double-digit economic growth a reality, government is proposing a $500 billion upgradation project for its roads, airports and ports. One-third of this amount will be coming from the private sector. India permits cent percent foreign investment in road building.

To make the road building process smoother, land acquisition is made easier and bids are being awarded only after 80% of land acquisition is complete.

Building roads is vital to the growth of agriculture, industry and trade. It also plays a major role in aiding inclusive growth, which is one of the present government’s pet initiatives. Though India ranks second in road network with 3.4 million kilometers of road, only two percent of this comes under national highways, which is responsible for 40% of net traffic.

In spite of the inadequacy of road infrastructure, roadways account for 70% of freight and 85% of passenger movement. The bane of Indian roads is its average speed, which is around 50 km/hour.