Government has exuded confidence that it will succeed in achieving the target of constructing 20 Kms road per day by 2013-14. Releasing the 2nd Report on Operational Efficiency of Freight Transportation by Road in India in New Delhi today, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Dr. C.P. Joshi said that the investments in road sector are very encouraging.

Expressing his deep concern on over-loading of vehicles, he asked the transporters to pay great attention to it as it leads to increasing road accidents besides damaging the quality of roads. Dr. Joshi said that his Ministry is very actively working on improving the Toll Plazas on national highways to make them more fuel efficient and time saver for vehicles.

The survey revealed that on Delhi-Mumbai Highways it took approximately 3 days to cover a distance of 1,380 kilometers at an average speed of 17 km per hour. The annual cost of such delays to the economy was to the time of 30 billion rupees.

The study also reveals that though India’s road freight volumes are increasing at a compounded annual growth rate,CAGR, of 9.08 per cent and the population of vehicles is increasing at a CAGR of 10.76 per cent, the road length is increasing at only 4.01 per cent, indicating the paucity of roads.

However, even though India has one of the highest road densities in the world, growth in road lengths has not been commensurate with the growths in freight and vehicular traffic, resulting in congestion, long delays and substantial costs to the environment and the economy.