Ministry of Road Transport and Highways


The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is a ministry of the Government of India, that is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research and in also to increase the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system in India. Through its officers of Central Engineering Services cadre it is responsible for the development of National Highways of the country. Road transport is a critical infrastructure for economic development of the country. It influences the pace, structure and pattern of development. In India, roads are used to transport over 60 percent of the total goods and 85 percent of the passenger traffic. Hence, development of this sector is of paramount importance for India and accounts for a significant part in the budget.
As many of the regional transport offices are not regularly functioning due to covid-19 situation, the Govt has given some relaxation to the people whose driving license has expired during this period. Now the old driving license can be used till September 2020. So the people can drive their vehicles up to September 2020 without renewing the old license.
Since 26 May 2014, the Minister for Ministry of Road Transport and Highways is Nitin Gadkari.

History

Creation

The Department of War Transport was formed in July, 1942, by the bifurcation of the then Department of Communications into two Departments:
The functions allocated to the Department of war Transport include Major Ports, Railways Priorities, utilization of road and water transport, Petrol rationing and Producer Gas. Broadly speaking, the functions of the War Transport Department were to coordinate the demands for transport in war time, Coastal Shipping and the administration and development of major ports. Later, the planning of export was undertaken as a corollary to the Departments control of transport priorities also.

Changes made over years

There are two departments under it:
Following are the autonomous agencies, subordinate offices regional offices under the Director General.

Agencies

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The ministry has following wings functioning under it:

Roads Wing

The road wing of the MORTH is the backbone of the country's road network development programme. It is staffed by officers of the Central Engineering Services. It is headed by Director General and Special Secretary to the Government of India.
The Road wing of MORTH is further divided into five Project Zones. Each Project zone is generally vested with responsibility of four to five states for National highway development and development of road network. These five project Zones are headed by five Additional Director Generals of Central Engineering Services cadre who are assisted by Zonal Chief Engineer of Headquarter and Regional Officers. Regional officers are posted on ground in their respective states for development and maintenance of National Highways through State PWDs.
Main responsibilities of the roads wing are:
Main responsibilities of the transport wing are:
This zones are headed by two separate Chief Engineers of Central Engineering Services. Main responsibilities of this zone are:
This zones is headed by a Chief Engineers of Central Engineering Services. Main responsibilities of this zone is Preparation of standards/ rules / guidelines for NH development program and related activities.

Acts

Over years the ministry has passed several acts to maintain law and order in Road Transport in the country
India has one of the largest road networks of over 4.885 million km consisting of :
RoadsLength
National Highways/Expressways1,32,500 km
State Highways1,56,694 km
Other Roads56,08,477 km
Total58,97,671 km

The total road length of India had grown more than 11 times in 60 years from 1951 to 2011; also the length of the surfaced roads had increased about 16 times over the same period. The connectivity in India has tremendously improved due to formation of new surface roads.
For development of roads in the country the government has made an allocation of ₹19,423.88 crores under the Central Road Fund for 2013–2014 with the following breakup:
TypeGrants
Grants to State Governments and UTs for State Roads₹2,659.91 crores
Grants to SGs and UTs for inte-state connectivity and roads of national importance₹262.22 crores
National Highways₹9,881.95 crores
Rural Roads₹5,827.20 crores
Railways₹1092.60 crores
Total₹19,423.88 crores

Government Initiatives

The government has provided various incentives for private and foreign investments in the roads sector. 100% FDI is allowed in the sectors of land transport to promote building of highway bridges, toll roads, and vehicular tunnels; services incidental to transport such as cargo handling is incidental to land transport; construction and maintenance of roads, bridges; and construction and maintenance of roads and highways offered on build-operate-transfer basis, including collection of toll.
A 10-year tax exemption under Section 80 IA has been granted to the highway building projects to attract private investors. The ministry has also framed a ‘Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North Eastern Region' for improving road connectivity to remote places in this region. The estimated cost of the proposal is US$2.53 billion. The Union Budget 2012–13 proposed an increase of allocation of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways by 14% to.
The World Bank has approved a US$975 million loan for developing the first phase of the eastern arm of the US$17.21 billion Dedicated Freight Corridor Project in India. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. has tied up with the Japanese Bank of Industrial Cooperation for US$14.56 billion funding as loan for the first phase and it is likely to be commissioned in 2016.
The Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana is a scheme for development of rural roads in India. The Construction of Rural Roads Project is another initiative focused on rural development.

National Green Highways Program

Ministry of Transport and NHAI has launched the green highways programme in 2016.

List of Ministers of Road Transport and Highways