Free Republic

Three years after the colossal failure of demonetisation the Narendra Modi government has embarked on a similar venture, the FASTag programme, this time targeting road users across the country. But just a day before the November 30 deadline, by which date all vehicles plying the highways would have been mandatorily required to affix an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag on their vehicles, the government blinked. And, like demonetisation, the design of this scheme also reflects a simpleton’s naivete. The announcement that those without the tag would be charged double the tariff at the toll gates set off a firestorm of...

As Elon Musk struggles in acquiring land rights for testing his audacious Hyperloop project in the United States, India has emerged out of nowhere to offer him a helping hand. India is offering Musk's SpaceX a big chunk of land and permission to do the required testing in Pune, a city 118 kilometers away from Mumbai. The country's Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said he made the proposal to Hyperloop's parent company SpaceX during his recent visit to the United States. “I just offered them ... they want some road for experimental purpose. I offered them the westerly bypass of...

In a fillip to India’s highway development programme, the Union cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday approved a plan to build thousands of kilometres of roads and highways over the next five years at a cost of about Rs 7 lakh crore, a spending push that could help generate jobs and lift the economy. Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley called this public expenditure on infrastructure projects as “unprecedented” and “something which has not happened in the country till date.” The plan involves constructing 83,677 km of roads, highways, green-field expressways and bridges in...

NEW DELHI: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has pledged to kick off one project every week in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as part of the central government's ambitious development agenda for the state. This will add up to new road projects worth Rs 1.3 lakh crore in the state, where elections are scheduled to be held early next year. Gadkari and Home Minister Rajnath Singh will formally announce the road plans on Friday in Lucknow. "I will lay foundation stones for highway projects across UP every week from now," Gadkari told ET. "My ministry will complete highway construction projects...