|
India has a road network of over in 2013,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Roadways (CIA Factbook) )〕 the second largest road network in the world. At 0.66 km of roads per square kilometre of land, the quantitative density of India's road network is similar to that of the United States (0.65) and far higher than that of China (0.16) or Brazil (0.20). However, qualitatively India's roads are a mix of modern highways and narrow, unpaved roads, and are being improved. As of 2011, 54 percent – about 2.53 million kilometres – of Indian roads were paved.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=India Transport Sector )〕 Adjusted for its large population, India has less than 3.8 kilometres of roads per 1000 people, including all its paved and unpaved roads. In terms of quality, all season, 4 or more lane highways, India has less than 0.07 kilometres of highways per 1000 people, as of 2010. These are some of the lowest road and highway densities in the world. For context, United States has 21 kilometres of roads per 1000 people, while France about 15 kilometres per 1000 people – predominantly paved and high quality in both cases. In terms of all season, 4 or more lane highways, developed countries such as United States and France have a highway density per 1000 people that is over 15 times as India. India in its past did not allocate enough resources to build or maintain its road network.〔 This has changed since 1995, with major efforts currently underway to modernize the country's road infrastructure.〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=BBC News )〕 As of April 2015, India had completed and placed in use over 24,000 kilometres of recently built 4 or 6-lane highways connecting many of its major manufacturing centres, commercial and cultural centres.〔〔 The rate of new highway construction across India accelerated after 1999, but has slowed in recent years. Policy delays and regulatory blocks reduced the rate of highway construction awards to just 500 kilometers of new road projects in 2013.〔(Highway developers face policy speed breakers ) Business Standard (3 February 2014)〕 Major projects are being implemented under the National Highways Development Project, a government initiative. Private builders and highway operators are also implementing major projects - for example, the Yamuna Expressway between Delhi and Agra was completed ahead of schedule and within budget,〔(Yamuna Expressway to open in April, trial runs on ) The Times of India〕 while the KMP Expressway started in 2006 is far behind schedule, over budget and incomplete.〔(The seemingly unending road ) The Hindu (11 August 2013)〕 According to 2009 estimates by Goldman Sachs, India will need to invest 1.7 trillion on infrastructure projects before 2020 to meet its economic needs, a part of which would be in upgrading India's road network.〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601091&sid=aRSTVq.5UVt8 )〕 The Government of India is attempting to promote foreign investment in road projects.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://business.in.com/article/briefing/crossing-the-chasm/4202/1 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】url=http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/sep/16/slide-show-1-kamal-nath-on-indias-ambitious-road-project.htm )〕 Foreign participation in Indian road network construction has attracted 45 international contractors and 40 design/engineering consultants, with Malaysia, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States being the largest players.〔(Indian Highways - Emerging Opportunities ) Govt of India, Page 15〕 == History == The first evidence of road development in the Indian subcontinent can be traced back to approximately 4000 BC from the ancient cities of Harrapa and Mohenjodaro of the Indus Valley Civilization. Ruling emperors and monarchs of ancient India had constructed numerous brick roads in the cities. One of the most famous highways of medieval India was the Grand Trunk Road. The Grand Trunk Road built by Sher Shah Suri 1540 to 1545, began in Sonargaon near Dhaka in Bangladesh and ended at Peshawar in modern-day Pakistan. In India, it linked several important cities from Kolkata in the east to Amritsar in the west, while passing through the cities of Patna, Varanasi, Kanpur, Agra, Delhi, Panipat, Pipli, Ambala, Rajpura, Ludhiana, and Jalandhar. The Grand Trunk Road - or GT Road - was the road used by Brigadier General John Nicholson of the British Empire to quickly move his troops hundreds of kilometres to Delhi in 1857. This road allowed him to lead the battle that ended the Indian Mutiny of 1857. India inherited a poor road network infrastructure at the time of its independence in 1947. Beyond that, between 1947 and 1988, India witnessed no new major projects, and the roads were poorly maintainted. Predominantly all roads were single lane, and most were unpaved. India had no expressways, and less than 200 kilometres of 4-lane highways. In 1988, an autonomous entity called the National Highways Authority of India was established in India by an Act of Parliament, and came into existence on 15 June 1989. The Act empowered this entity to develop, maintain and manage India's road network through National Highways. However, even though the Authority was created in 1988, not much happened till India introduced widespread economic liberalisation in the early 1990s. Since 1995, the authority has privatised road network development in India, and by May 2014 delivered a statewise lengths of over 92,851 kilometres of National Highways, of which 22,757 kilometres are 4-lane or 6-lane modern highways.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=NHAI, Govt of India )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】publisher=NHAI, Govt of India )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Indian road network」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|