Overview

• The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways held a consultation workshop on Wednesday led by Nitin Gadkari to gather State and UT inputs on draft highway and urban-mobility policies.
• The Urban Decongestion Policy under discussion targets bottlenecks in cities over one lakh population through access-controlled ring roads, bypasses, and elevated corridors integrated with city master plans.
• Financing options presented include cost-sharing with states and Value Capture Financing to speed implementation of urban decongestion projects.
• Fifteen landfill sites holding about half of India’s 1,200 lakh metric tonnes of legacy waste have been mapped to upcoming National Highway works for reuse of inert material, with MoUs proposed with local bodies.
• A complementary State Road Development Policy envisions upgrading high-traffic state highways to four lanes or more through a Centre–State cost-sharing model supported by PPPs, with feedback from MoHUA, MCD and states to shape the final drafts.