New Delhi Road Tech Summit Charts Path to Eco-Smart Travel
At a time when India’s infrastructure push is reshaping urban mobility, the second edition of the Roads and Highways Summit in New Delhi spotlighted a new frontier: how advanced technologies and sustainable practices can revolutionise road development. Officials and industry experts convened to address the future of India’s 63 lakh kilometre road network, focusing on the expansion of national highways and the integration of intelligent systems that promise both efficiency and ecological responsibility. As India continues its journey toward green growth, the summit presented critical insights on financing models, technological innovation, and equitable infrastructure planning.
The national highways, which carry half the country’s traffic load, have grown by over 60 percent since 2014. However, as cities swell and freight corridors expand, the emphasis is no longer just on adding kilometres but on ensuring resilience, digital integration, and low-carbon construction. Participants at the summit debated whether tools like digital twins, robotics, and AI can significantly cut project delays, reduce emissions, and improve safety. While many hailed these tools as transformative, experts cautioned that technology without inclusive policy may deepen access divides, especially in rural and peri-urban regions. Discussions also centred around the viability of hybrid funding models, such as Infrastructure Investment Trusts and the Toll-Operate-Transfer mechanism. Reviving the Build-Operate-Transfer model—once the backbone of Indian highway expansion—was highlighted as essential to balancing public-private risk and attracting green capital.
Experts called for institutional reform to standardise contracts and improve accountability in execution, arguing that sustainable finance must be embedded in both urban expressways and rural connectivity projects under missions like the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana. Another key theme was digital enablement. With the introduction of smart traffic systems and automated tolling, stakeholders pushed for a data-centric, real-time governance approach. Construction technology leaders presented how Building Information Modeling (BIM) and geospatial mapping can reduce material waste, prevent time overruns, and forecast maintenance needs. Civic representatives urged that digital transparency must not only improve project timelines but also empower citizens to hold contractors and administrators accountable for delays, safety lapses, or environmental violations.
The summit underlined that climate-conscious construction is no longer optional. Panels highlighted how sustainable materials, circular economy principles, and localised resource use can curb the carbon footprint of road-building. Equally, there was an emotional undertone to the dialogue—a recognition that every road built shapes livelihoods, ecosystems, and urban futures. Officials reiterated that the road sector must not only support India’s net-zero targets but also promote gender equity and universal access, especially in hilly terrains, flood-prone zones, and underserved tribal belts. As India’s road sector embraces a new era of digital transformation and climate responsibility, the summit’s message was clear: innovation must serve both speed and sustainability. What emerges now is a question of scale—whether India can replicate pilot successes across states and cities, and whether citizens will be equal partners in this infrastructure revolution.
