India’s road sector is on a transformative path. Propelled by the Bharatmala Pariyojana – an ambitious plan to construct 34,800 km of new highways and expressways – the country’s highway network expanded by 60% in the decade to 2024. However, roadblocks remain, clouding both the near- and the long-term view. In the current fiscal year, owing to a host of issues (including national elections), the government is likely to fall well short of its target of building or upgrading 13,000 km of highways. From a longer-term perspective, it remains a challenge to ensure strong private-sector participation in the sector. 

After experimenting with various models of public-private partnership (PPP), the government has now returned to the tried-and-tested Build-Operate-Transfer (BoT) model, albeit with revised norms that help address past inefficiencies and attract private participation. We spoke to several industry leaders to arrive at a clearer, ground-level view of the pluses and minuses of the current approach. On the whole, despite continuing challenges, they are optimistic about the sector’s long-term potential. 

This podcast summarises our findings,