India, China to tie-up to cooperate in road sector

For cooperating in their road and transport sector, India and China are set to sign an agreement when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visits Beijing in next October. Transport ministries of both countries have approved the details of the proposed agreement. Last year, India had reached out to Chinese infrastructure companies and invited to invest in its road sector. Identified areas of cooperation include sharing best practices in road and bridge building technologies, policies, intelligent traffic system besides road-related issues.

China has taken huge strides in building world class highways, and has built over 60,000 km of expressways. Plans are afoot to build around 18,000 km of expressways in India. China has also made a mark in speedy implementation of infrastructure projects, particularly road and rail. Around half-a-dozen road projects are being built with participation of Chinese companies.

Sources said all these projects were bagged by private entities in which Chinese firms had a share. The other major area of cooperation will in the electronic mode of collecting toll (ETC). India also plans to bring all toll plazas on national highways under ETC so that people can pass through all plazas using a single smart card.

India and China will also cooperate in the field of intelligent traffic system, vehicle specifications and their certification. While India is likely to benefit from Chinese sharing of information and knowledge, China will learn from India's success in implementing public-private-partnership projects.