Indian Road Network
India has a road network of over 4,320,000 kilometres (2,680,000 mi) in 2011, the second largest road network in the world. At 0.66 km of roads per square kilometer of land, the quantitative density of India’s road network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and far higher than that of China (0.16) or Brazil (0.20). However, qualitatively India's roads are a mix of modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads, and are undergoing drastic improvement. As of 2008, 49 percent - about 2.1 million kilometers - of Indian roads were paved.
Adjusted for its large population, India has less than 4 kilometers of roads per 1000 people, including all its paved and unpaved roads. In terms of quality, all season, 4 or more lane highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometers of highways per 1000 people, as of 2010. These are some of the lowest road and highway densities in the world. For context, United States has 21 kilometers of roads per 1000 people, while France about 15 kilometers per 1000 people - predominantly paved and high quality in both cases. In terms of all season, 4 or more lane highways, developed countries such as United States and France have a highway density per 1000 people that is over 15 times as India.
India in its past did not allocate enough resources to build or maintain its road network. This has changed since 1995, with major efforts currently underway to modernize the country's road infrastructure. India plans to spend approximately US$70 Billion by 2013 to modernize its highway network.
As of June 2012, India had completed and placed in use over 18,300 kilometers of recently built 4 or 6-lane highways connecting many of its major manufacturing centers, commercial and cultural centers.
The rate of new highway construction across India has accelerated in recent years. As of October 2011, the country was adding 11 kilometers of new highways, on average, every day. The expected pace of project initiations and completion suggests that India would add about 600 kilometers of modern highway per month, on average, through 2014.
Some of the major projects that are being implemented include the National Highways Development Project, Yamuna Expressway and the KMP Expressway.
According to 2009 estimates by Goldman Sachs, India will need to invest US$1.7 trillion on infrastructure projects before 2020 to meet its economic needs, a part of which would be in upgrading India's road network. The government of India is attempting to promote foreign investment in road projects by offering financial incentives.
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