The road & highway sector is the one segment that has consistently been weathering the broader economy’s travails and even the pandemic shock. It has been able to recover from Covid-19 at a much faster rate than expected. To further accelerate the development of road infrastructure and enable seamless connectivity across country while reducing overall logistics costs at the same time, the Government of India (GoI) has lined up INR 1.99 lakh crore for the road and highway sector in the Union Budget for 2022-23, increasing it by 68%.

This is in line with the ambitious target for expanding the National Highways network by 25,000 km in 2022-23 at an all-time high pace of over 68 km per day compared with around 37 km/day achieved, the highest so far, in 2020-21.

Furthermore, the government also intends to mobilise INR 20,000 crore through innovative financing models. This financial impetus on road infrastructure will help realise the goal of ‘One Nation, One Market’ along with the seamless movement of road and human resources.

The rapid pace of road and highway infrastructure development is not to be measured just by the quantum of investment or kilometers constructed; it has to be seen on its multiplier effect on the society, economy and environment.

While models such as hybrid annuity and toll-operate transfer have supported the government's ambitious plans, initiatives such as PM Gati Shakti Yojana and Bharatmala Pariyojana will play a key role in the growth of road and highway infrastructure sector going forward.

Not just traditional players, new-age investors are coming in large numbers in the construction space. At the same time, they are looking for more support from the government in terms of policies and ease of doing business.

The first edition of the National Road Infra Conclave (NRIC) will discuss emerging opportunities and trends in road infrastructure sector. Moreover, it will analyze the impact of government initiatives and policies while identifying the strategies for faster execution of projects.

NRIC will bring together key stakeholders from government, corporates, construction companies and machinery manufacturers to debate and discuss the road crossed and the path ahead.