India's road network second largest in the world; grew 59 pc in 9 yrs: Gadkari
text_fieldsNew Delhi: Union RoadTransport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said that India's road network has grown 59 per cent to become the second largest in the world.
The Minister said on Tuesday that this achievement was made possible by the development work carried out by the government in the last nine years.
In terms of length, India's road network stood at 1,45,240 km today compared to 91,287 km in 2013-14, the Minister added.
The Minister's remarks were made while he was addressing a conference on '9 years achievements of government' in the national capital.
In the last nine years, India made seven world records in the sector. India's road network is the second largest in the world after the US, he said.
The minister further informed that the revenues from tolls rose to Rs 41,342 crore from Rs 4,770 crore in 2013-14. The government aims to increase the toll revenue to Rs 1,30,000 crore by 2020, Gadkari said.
The usage of fastags has helped in reducing the waiting time at the toll plazas to 47 seconds. The government is taking various measures to reduce it further to below 30 seconds, he noted.
(Based on PTI feed with minor edits)