The Union Government budget of 2026-27 has allocated a whopping 3.09 Lakh crore rupees to the Ministry of Road Transportation and Highways (MoRTH), an increase of 7.9% compared to the 2.87 lakh Crores allocated in the 2025-26 budget. This is not only the highest amount that has ever been allocated to MoRTH, it is also thrice the size of what was allocated in Financial Year 2021-2022.
The Union Government’s push for road infrastructure is mirrored by the Tamil Nadu Government’s allocation of Rs. 20,722 crores to the Highways and Minor Ports department in the State Budget for the financial year 2025-2026. With both the Governments allocating close to 5% of their budgets on roads, the message is clear - prioritise roads to improve connectivity and efficiency.
The real cost of efficiency
The budget allocation for roads is often justified using the statement that Indian roads contribute directly to the country’s GDP, with a study by IIM Bangalore and NHAI backing this up by reporting that every rupee spent on Indian roads leads to an increase of Rs. 3.21 to GDP growth. This is an enticing yet incomplete statistic.
India also loses 3% of its annual GDP to road accidents, 70% of which are caused by speeding, yet the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways continues to push for an increase in speed limits for the sake of efficiency.
India has also lost 6% of its GDP to air pollution in the year 2024. Of the 50 most polluted cities in the world, 35 are in India. Road transport currently accounts for 20-30% of all urban air pollution and 12% of all of India’s energy-related CO2 emissions. The transport sector is one of the largest contributors to global emissions and despite being a major cause for concern, the Union Budget’s allocation to addressing air pollution has only decreased.
GDP therefore can be an evasive metric.
The myth of decongestion
India is the 5th most congested country in the world and the second most congested country in Asia according to the Tomtom traffic index. Congestion in urban areas is on the rise with Chennai ranking as the 7th most congested city in India and 23rd most congested city globally. Congestion matters because annually, the average person in Chennai loses 132 hours or 5 and a half days to traffic congestion in the city, which is time which can be spent working or with friends, hobbies or family.
The Government’s response to congestion and attempts at de-congestion has often taken the route of widening roads or building more roads and fly-overs. Building more roads in an attempt to decongest only works briefly before traffic levels return to those prior-expansion. This paradox is best explained by the economic concept of induced demand where creating more of something increases the consumption of that thing. Traffic can follow a similar logic where building more roads can make those roads more accessible and therefore incentivise people to opt for private vehicles as opposed to shared public transport.
Adding extra roads can also counter-intuitively lead to an increase in average travel time as people who were previously using different routes to reach the same location start using the same newly built roads. This contradiction is best explained by Braess’ paradox. Prioritising public and shared modes of transportation is then the only way to decongest on urban roads.
Beyond on-road congestion, the absence of parking space and the additional pollution that is caused due to increased use of privatised transport remain unaccounted for. Wider roads also lead to businesses and homes being demolished in the process, displacing jobs, trade and people, increasing overall commute.
The decreasing foothold of road safety
India loses a life every 3 minutes on roads and while the country owns only 1% of the world’s vehicles, contributes to 10% of all crash related deaths. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways annually allocates close to 0.002% of its budget to road safety, and for the past 5 years has been consistently underutilising the already miniscule allocation.
India also has the 2nd largest road network in the world closely following the United States; however, ranks 51st globally in terms of road quality, pointing out much room for improvement in road quality and maintenance.
The Missing Pedestrian
A 2019 study reported that 63% of respondents used walking as their most widely used means of transportation. Although pedestrian trips constitute more than half of all urban commutes, the government gears almost all of its road budget towards vehicle users, with Chennai allocating just 3.68% for pedestrian needs and holistic redevelopment of urban roads.
The World Bank’s 2021 report, shows that because 35% of urban travel in India is short distance, prioritising pedestrian infrastructure can offload a significant proportion of these short distance trips from congested roads. Pedestrian infrastructure is also extremely financially viable as the average cost of constructing a well-designed footpath comes up to only Rs. 10 lakh per kilometer while the same distance for road construction would cost Rs. 10 crore per kilometer, making footpaths 100 times more cost effective.
Though investment on roads is more than welcome, budgets that prioritize vehicles, directly takes away space and the pedestrian's right to the road. A walkable city on the other hand contributes to the health, well-being and increased physical activity levels of its citizens and builds a population actively engaged in the public realm.
Finally, roads for vehicles are seen as the most visible markers of progress. Flyovers like the Kathipara for example, apart from being tools of connectivity, also act as architectural spectacle that can easily be credited to the ones building it, whereas a well-connected footpath network, although impressive, is less easy to claim.
Sustainable transportation however, often does not go hand in hand with spectacle. There is an urgent need to reduce the number of kilometers travelled by vehicles, strengthen public transit, support pedestrians via infrastructure, provide alternatives to driving and enhance non-motorised transportation in the city. Finding the means to finance the same can help us look at urban mobility through a layered and holistic lens rather than the one-stop shop of laying and expanding roads.
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