India has achieved another world-level milestone as now the country is second to the United States in terms of the largest road network across the globe. Since 2014, China took the second spot by adding 1.45 lakh km of road network. On Tuesday, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari held a press conference, sharing his ministrys achievements during his tenure so far. In nine years of Power, India got various greenfield expressways. Now, heres the new addition to the list of expressways. The NHAI (National Highways Authority of India) is almost completed constructing the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, resulting in Indias longest-ever till date.Nitin Gadkari holds press conference, citing achievements of his tenureIn the press conference, the union minister said that the countrys road network was 91,287 km 9 years ago. Now, NHAI has constructed a spree of new national highways and expressways in the last few years. Also, the NHAI has constructed over 30,000 km of highways across the nation since April 2019, including major constructions like the Delhi to Meerut expressway, Lucknow to Ghazipur in Uttar Pradesh, etc.Citing the number of world records achieved under his tenure, union minister Nitin Gadkari highlighted the contribution of NHAI which recorded around seven world records during this period.Recently, in May, the NHAI laid a foundation of 100 km of new expressway in just 100 hours. This milestone was achieved during the construction of the upcoming Ghaziabad-Aligarh expressway in UP. Similarly, in August last year, NHAI set the Guinness World Record by completing the 75 km continuous single bituminous concrete road between Amravati and Aloka on the NH-53. This landmark construction was done in 105 hours and 33 minutes.Tax revenue earned so far & what the plan aheadFurther, the union minister emphasised how the revenue from roads and highways have increased under his command. He said that the toll collection has risen to Rs 41,342 crore from Rs 4,770 crore in the span of nine years.Now, the centre is aiming to increase the toll revenue to Rs 1.30 lakh crore, he added.Moreover, the union minister also how the usage of FASTags has helped in slashing the long queuesat the toll plazas across the country. He also cited the average time a vehicle spends at a toll plaza, saying now it just takes 47 seconds at the toll. Gadkari also said that his ministry is trying its best to cut down the time to just 30 seconds.
