Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: With its economy projected to become the world’s second-largest by 2038, India is planning to invest USD 125 billion (Rs. 11 trillion) to expand its high-speed road network fivefold within a decade, modernize infrastructure, and slash logistics costs, the media reported on Thursday.
It will add 17,000 km of access-controlled roads that allow motorists to travel at speeds of up to 120 km per hour, offering faster, safer, and more efficient connectivity than conventional highways.
Nearly 40 percent of the proposed network, currently under construction, is expected to be completed by 2030, and the remaining by 2033.
India’s push to reduce logistics costs is like China’s, which has built more than 180,000 km of expressways since the 1990s. The US maintains over 75,000 km of interstate highways.
As of March 2025, India’s national highway network covered more than 146,000 km, but only 4,500 km meet high-speed standards, the reports said.
Its highway network is being upgraded by the state-run National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which spent a record Rs. 2.5 trillion on construction in the fiscal year 2024-25, up 21 percent from FY24. For 2025-26, the government has increased the budgeted allocation to Rs. 2.9 trillion for roads and highways.
The Adani Group has announced plans to invest USD 18.4 billion across infrastructure, including roads.
India is expected to attract hundreds of billions of dollars in infrastructure investment over the next three years, driven by policy support, rising demand, and the scale of planned projects, according to Deloitte India estimates.