By Ajay Prakash | New Delhi6 minutes ago
The government has spent around ₹16 lakh crore on the highway network over the past 12 years, but vehicle speeds have improved only marginally.
According to figures presented in Parliament by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and NITI Aayog’s logistics report, average car speeds on national highways stood at 45 km/h in 2014. By 2026, this had risen to between 52-58 km/h — an increase of just 13 km/h at most.
Average truck speeds have improved by only 2 km/h. Over a 100 km journey, cars save just around 10 minutes. More than one crore trees have been felled for this construction over 12 years; including state highways, the figure exceeds 1.5 crore.
Why speeds haven’t improved
Illegal cuts and encroachment: Illegal median cuts or shops appear every 2 km on national and state highways, raising the risk of jams and accidents near expressway exits.
Bypass design: Many bypasses built outside cities connect to local traffic, which affects the flow of vehicles on the highways.
Focus on the 0.1%: Large budgets have gone towards low-traffic expressways, while 97% of people use ordinary highways, which have received little attention.
Foreign models versus India’s roads
Faster speeds abroad: In developed countries, vehicles on highways travel faster than 100 km/h, whereas in India this figure is only 50-60 km/h.
Enclosed and safer roads: Highways abroad are fully enclosed, preventing local traffic, animals, or pedestrians from entering.
Proper road design: Curves, gradients and maintenance on foreign roads are precise enough that vehicles remain safe even at high speeds.
