Govt to set up helipads, drone landing facilities on highways

There will also be retail outlets for promoting handicrafts and locally-manufactured products, Gadkari said

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) is building wayside amenities at more than 600 locations along the National Highways which will include setting up helipads and drone landing facilities.

Basic facilities like toilets, parking, restaurants, dormitories for truckers, electric vehicle charging and trauma centres are also on the cards, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said.

There will also be retail outlets for promoting handicrafts and locally-manufactured products. Some wayside amenities will also have helipads and drone landing facilities to deal with medical emergencies like road accidents and organ transplants, he said.

He added that logistics cost in India is higher at 13-14 per cent of GDP compared to 8-9 per cent in other developed economies, such as the US. The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (NMP) is a very big initiative and it will help us reduce logistics costs, Gadkari said.

“Higher logistics cost reduces the competitiveness of 'Made in India' products in global markets. Reducing logistics costs to 9% of GDP is at the top of the government's agenda," the minister emphasised.

Also Read | Construction of national highways at 10,331 km in 2022-23

The construction of National Highways in 2022-23 was 10,331 km, falling 21% short of the government’s target of 12,500 km, according to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' latest data.

The ministry awarded NH projects of 12,376 km in length in the last financial year.

The ministry said it had constructed 10,237 km in 2019-20, 13,327 km in 2020-21 and 10,457 km in 2021-22.

Bharatmala Pariyojana is India's largest infrastructure programme to develop about 35,000 km of National Highway corridors, connecting over 580 districts in the nation.

'Bharatmala 2' is the Indian government's ambitious project of building over 5,000 km of expressways and highways at the cost of almost Rs 3 trillion. Gadkari recently said, " India's highways will be on par with that of the US by 2024."