Building Inclusive Connectivity

India’s journey to becoming a developed economy by 2047 will not be powered only by skyscrapers in metros or gleaming expressways between ports. It will be defined by whether a farmer in a remote hamlet, a student in a hilly village, or a small-town entrepreneur can access opportunities as seamlessly as their urban counterparts.

Connectivity—true, inclusive, and integrated—is therefore not just an infrastructure agenda; it is a nation-building mission. Roads, after all, are more than asphalt and concrete. They are lifelines of equity.

India’s ambitious programmes reflect this dual vision. Bharatmala Pariyojana is stitching economic corridors, freight routes, and high-speed highways. Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) has spent 25 years opening pathways into villages that were once cut off. PM Gati Shakti, a digital masterplan platform, aims to make sure the two worlds meet—seamlessly.

“Today, highway planning is not about individual projects but about the entire network,” explained RK Pandey, Advisor, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI). “When we design corridors, we map them against PMGSY routes on the Gati Shakti platform. That ensures we know where rural roads will meet our highways and how we can provide safe junctions. It’s no longer standalone planning.”

But integration is easier said than done. Habitations are shifting, maintenance is inconsistent, and terrain challenges remain. The task is not just building roads but anticipating the future.

Beneath the surface

If roads are to last and adapt, innovation must start with the soil itself. Traditional blacktop methods are giving way to smarter, greener approaches. Soil stabilization with cement, lime, or polymers raises strength (CBR values) while cutting costs. Plastic waste—when shredded into fibres and blended with bitumen—has proven that one ton of waste can be repurposed into every kilometre of road.

“Innovation must pass the test of time and traffic,” said Brig Gurjeet Singh Kambo, Head, Special Initiatives, TI IC, L&T. He cited his team’s work on the Ghaziabad–Aligarh Road, where a cold concrete mix with recycled milled materials was deployed: “We completed 100 km in 100 hours without heating, reducing energy use and emissions. The road is performing beautifully. That’s the power of adopting new technologies with confidence.”

Such experiments are not confined to highways. Municipal corporations like Pune have pioneered the use of recycled plastic in urban roads—showing the way for national scale adoption.

The stakes for rural roads are not only technical but deeply social. The World Bank and independent studies reveal striking numbers: villages connected through PMGSY witnessed an 8 to 10 per cent increase in crop sales, and logistics costs dropped by 12 to 15 per cent.

“The benefits are manifold,” stressed Sushant Dey, Technical Director, KPMG. “Beyond reduced costs and improved competitiveness, connectivity improves access to healthcare, education, and employment. We’ve seen non-agricultural job creation rise in rural belts once roads arrive. India’s heart is rural—unless we bridge that gap, true development will remain incomplete.”

Integration, however, brings a darker challenge: road safety. Rural single-lane roads often feed directly into six-lane highways, creating hazardous points of conflict.

“Seventy per cent of our network will eventually be village roads,” warned Kambo. “These carry slow tractors, cultivators, and two-wheelers, while highways run at high speeds. We need road safety audits for rural roads just like highways. Blind spots, poor signage, and unmanaged vegetation can turn them into danger zones.”

Possible solutions include building more underpasses (RUBs), overpasses (ROBs), or even innovative box-pushing tunnels—though cost remains a constraint. The underlying message is clear: safety must be embedded into design, execution, and maintenance, not treated as an afterthought.

Even as India builds roads at record pace, the question of upkeep looms large. Anil Banchhor, MD & CEO of RDC Concrete, believes the answer lies in foresight.

“If the government acquires not 100 m but 300 m of land during highway construction, the excess can be auctioned annually,” he suggested. “That would generate funds for maintenance and even for building new roads. Roads must earn for themselves.”

His proposal is bold but practical: sustainable financing must accompany sustainable engineering. Concrete pavements with high fly-ash content, semi-rigid CGBC roads, and thin concrete overlays are emerging as cost-effective, durable options—especially in rural areas plagued by poor drainage and overloading.

Rethinking infra through Gati Shakti

The Gati Shakti initiative has begun to break down silos between ministries. “Earlier, every ministry planned in isolation,” Pandey reflected. “Now, at least everyone knows what others are doing in an area before projects begin.”

Yet he argues it can go further. Environmental and forest clearances, for example, could be pre-mapped digitally to avoid costly delays. Shared infrastructure—like combined road-rail tunnels in remote hills—could multiply utility while cutting costs.

Such thinking reflects a larger shift: from projects to platforms, from isolated achievements to integrated ecosystems.

Roads and the India of 2047

Do we need more roads at all, given India already has the second-largest road network in the world? The answer lies in population density.

“America may be 2.5 times India’s size, but it has just 35 crore people,” Pandey pointed out. “India has 140 crore. The demand for mobility here is incomparable. Expansion isn’t optional—it’s inevitable.”

Planning is already adapting. Rights of Way (ROW) of 100 metres are being acquired upfront, even if only part of the road is developed initially. Bridges and culverts are being built for six to eight lanes, even if just two operate for now. Futureproofing is embedded into today’s construction.

At its core, this is about more than engineering. Roads are enablers of dignity. A mother being able to reach a hospital in time. A child walking to school on a paved path. A farmer accessing markets to sell at fair prices.

“Inclusive connectivity is not just about freight or speed,” Dey concluded. “It’s about opportunity. It’s about ensuring no Indian is left out of the growth story.”

India’s roads today are symbols of ambition. But tomorrow, they must become symbols of inclusion. They must connect not just metros to markets, but villages to value chains, and citizens to possibilities.

As India accelerates towards its 2047 vision, the true measure of its roads will not be in kilometres built, but in lives transformed.