Curing our broken, disturbing roads: NHAI mandates AI-based machine control for highway projects

A road is only as good as the system that builds and maintains it. India has specifications for road construction. Too often, the distance between what's prescribed on paper and what gets built is measured in potholes, patchwork and pending repairs.

NHAI's move to make AI-based machine control (AI-MC) compulsory for highway projects is welcome. Using sensors, computers and real-time data to ensure every layer is built to specification can bring precision, accountability and consistency to 'street credentials'.

There will be an upfront cost. But if better construction means roads that last longer, need fewer repairs and reduce accidents, the investment can pay for itself. In 2025, 62,122 people died on NHs. Better-engineered roads can't eliminate accidents. But quality is vital to road safety and comfort.


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Good roads move trucks more efficiently, and reduce fuel use, travel time and logistics costs. A Transport Corporation of India (TCI)-IIM Kolkata study estimated that poor road conditions, delays and frequent halts cost India $21.3 bn a year - $6.6 bn in delays and $14.7 bn in added fuel consumption.

We tend to measure infra in kilometres of highways and billions of rupees. But development - 'viksit' in today's jargon - is experienced on the road outside one's home, on the street to the market, or en route to school. Roads are among the most visible markers of development.

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NHAI's embrace of tech should extend to city roads, arterial roads and neighbourhood streets, where potholes, shoddy patchwork, poor drainage and constant digging remain common. We need not just better roads, but a culture of moving away from a 'vendor-tender' culture, and of monitoring roads before they become laughable definitions of what city roads should be.