Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport proposes measures to reduce road accidents, clear backlog of road projects with NHAI

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on transport, tourism and culture proposed setting up of specific measurable annual reduction targets for reduction of road accidents and fatalities within the Outcome Budget framework and the establishment of a dedicated National Highway Safety Patrol on high-accident corridors.

India recorded approximately 4.73 lakh road accidents and 1.70 lakh fatalities in 2024, with National Highways accounting for over 52,600 deaths.

The committee, in its report submitted to the Parliament on Wednesday, also recommended conditioning the award of new contracts to the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on demonstrated progress in clearing the existing backlog, and a WIP Liquidation Plan identifying stretches at risk of cost escalation from interest during construction. This, it said, will help in clearing the backlog.


According to the report, NHAI is managing the construction of 27,597 km with a capital cost of Rs 7.72 lakh crore, of which approximately 13,228 km remains under construction.

The Committee also recommended shifting to Zero-Based Maintenance Budgeting grounded in International Roughness Index data from Network Survey Vehicles after it observed a discrepancy in the demand for grants by the ministry of road transport and highways.

The report said that the maintenance head showed an 86.4% upward revision in 2024-25 (from Rs 2,500 crore to Rs 4,660 crore), indicating reactive budgeting.

A discrepancy exists between the Rs. 6,000 crore reflected in the Demands for Grants and the Rs. 10,000 crore maintenance figure stated during oral evidence, it added.

Further, the committee also suggested setting up of a “Last Mile Task Force” for the residual 13,015 km of the Bharatmala project and a joint Port Connectivity Mission with the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways to fast-track construction of port connectivity roads.

Against a Phase-I target of 34,800 km, 21,785 km has been completed (63%) under the Bharatmala project while port Connectivity Roads stand at only 45% completion (157 km of 348 km).

“The current year’s construction achievement of 6,346 km fell short of the 10,000 km target by 36.5%,” it added.

Besides, the committee also called for a need for real-time API Integration between Vahan and the Insurance Information Bureau for automated identification of uninsured vehicles, and notification of a National Calibration Standard for digital enforcement devices under the Legal Metrology Act for better monitoring.