Budget 2026: India Must Embrace Tech for Smart Highway Management
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CNBC TV18•22-01-2026, 12:22
Budget 2026: India Must Embrace Tech for Smart Highway Management
- •India's road network, the world's second-largest, is rapidly expanding with advanced expressways like the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, yet maintenance often lags using pre-digital methods.
- •Current reactive maintenance leads to delayed pothole fixes, subjective bridge inspections, and higher costs, as flagged by parliamentary committees and NITI Aayog.
- •Digital intelligence through Road Asset Management Systems (RAMS) offers a data-driven solution, transforming static infrastructure into dynamic, monitored networks.
- •Automated assessments using AI-powered cameras detect defects with high accuracy and significantly reduce inspection costs, as demonstrated in pilot projects in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh.
- •Bihar's Output and Performance-based Road Maintenance Contracts (OPRMC) and Command & Control Centre show successful implementation of data-led, outcome-based maintenance, achieving 95% crack detection and 70% inspection cost reduction.
Why It Matters: India needs to transition from reactive to predictive, tech-driven highway management for sustainable infrastructure.
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