Roads ministry seeks nod for Rs.22 trillion highway development plan

02 Jul 2024 CW Team

In a big push for infrastructure development, the road transport and highways ministry has sought Cabinet approval for Rs.22 trillion investments in a highway development plan covering around 30,600 km by 2031-32.

The plan, submitted to the finance ministry and shared with all key ministries last week, includes construction of 18,000 km of expressways and high-speed corridors, decongestion of 4,000 km national highways around cities and building of strategic and international roads.

Around 35 per cent of the investment will come from the private sector. The master plan for highway development has been proposed in two phases.

The Rs.22 trillion estimate is for projects to be taken up in the first phase. Once completed, the average travel speed of trucks on the national highway network will go up to 85 kmph from the current 47 kmph.

The average travel speed on highways is over 100 kmph in the US and 90 kmph in China. The government expects that increasing the average speed will help India achieve its target of reducing logistic costs to 9-10 percent of the GDP.

Infrastructure Urban

11 Mar 2026

India Expands Semiconductor Training To 500 Institutions

Under the Chips to Startups programme of the India Semiconductor Mission, the Union minister responsible for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and IT reported notable progress in talent development. He indicated that over the past four years substantial steps have been taken towards a 10-year target of training 85,000 engineers in semiconductor design. World-class EDA tools have been deployed in 315 academic institutions across the country to provide students with practical exposure to chip design. These EDA tools are supported by leading global firms and are accessible t..

Delhi Institutions Support India Semiconductor Mission

The Government of India has prioritised talent development through training, upskilling and workforce development under the Chips to Startups initiative of the India Semiconductor Mission, with officials noting progress in four years towards a 10-year target of training 85,000 engineers in semiconductor design. Electronic design automation tools provided by Synopsys, Cadence, Siemens, Renesas, Ansys and AMD have been deployed in 315 academic institutions, enabling students to gain practical chip design experience. Chips have been fabricated and tested at the Semiconductor Laboratory, Mohali, a..

NHA Announces Winners Of NHCX Hackathon At IIT Hyderabad

The National Health Authority (NHA) has concluded the NHCX Hackathon under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) to stimulate innovation around the National Health Claims Exchange (NHCX). The winning teams presented their solutions at the NHCX Innovation Meet held at IIT Hyderabad during a two-day event in March 2026 that also served as the hackathon grand finale. The hackathon itself ran from 22 to 28 February 2026 and aimed to accelerate paperless, transparent claims processing across India. The event was organised with a range of ecosystem partners, including the Insurance Regulatory a..