Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

Emblem of India
Nitin J. Gadkari
Ministry overview
Formed	July 1942; 79 years ago (1942-07)
Jurisdiction	Government of India
Headquarters	Transport Bhawan, 1, Parliament Street, New Delhi 28°37′9.58″N 77°12′37.29″E / 28.6193278°N 77.2103583°E / 28.6193278; 77.2103583
Annual budget	₹91,823 crore (US$13 billion) (2020-21 est.) [1]
Minister responsible	Nitin Gadkari, Cabinet Minister
Deputy Minister responsible	General V. K. Singh (Retd.), Minister of State
Ministry executives	Giridhar Aramane, IAS, Secretary I.K. Pandey, Director General (Road Development) and Special Secretary to Government of India
Child agencies	National Highways Authority of India National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited
Website	morth.nic.in

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) is a ministry of the Government of India, that is the apex body for formulation and administration of the rules, regulations and laws relating to road transport, transport research and in also to increase the mobility and efficiency of the road transport system in India. Through its officers of Central Engineering Services (Roads) cadre it is responsible for the development of National Highways of the country. Road transport is a critical infrastructure for economic development of the country. It influences the pace, structure and pattern of development. In India, roads are used to transport over 60 percent of the total goods and 85 percent of the passenger traffic. Hence, development of this sector is of paramount importance for India and accounts for a significant part in the budget.

History[]

Creation[]

The Department of War Transport was formed in July, 1942, by the bifurcation of the then Department of Communications into two Departments:^[2]

• Department of Posts
• Department of War Transport.

Functions[]

The functions allocated to the Department of war Transport include Major Ports, Railways Priorities, utilization of road and water transport, Petrol rationing and Producer Gas. Broadly speaking, the functions of the War Transport Department were to coordinate the demands for transport in war time, Coastal Shipping and the administration and development of major ports. Later, the planning of export was undertaken as a corollary to the Departments control of transport priorities also.

Changes made over years[]

• 1957: Department of War Transport was renamed as Ministry of Transport & Communications and Department of transport was placed under it.
• 1966: On 25 January, under President's order the Department of Transport, Shipping & Tourism was placed under Ministry of Transport and Aviation.
• 1967: On 13 March, the Ministry of Transport and Aviation was bifurcated into Ministry of Shipping and Transport and the Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation.
• 1985: On 25 September, during reorganisation the Ministry of Transport and Shipping became the Department of Surface Transport under the Ministry of Transport.
• 1986: On 22 October, the Department of Surface Transport under Ministry of Transport was renamed as Ministry of Surface Transport .
• 1999: On 15 October, Ministry of Surface Transport was subsequently re-organized into departments, namely Department of Shipping and Department of Road Transport and Highways.
• 2000: On 17 November, the Ministry of Surface Transport was bifurcated into two Ministries namely Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Shipping.
• 2004: On 2 October, Ministry of Shipping and Ministry of Road Transport has again been merged and renamed as Ministry of Shipping and Road Transport and Highways

There are two departments under it:

• Department of Shipping
• Department of Road transport and Highways

Organisational structure[]

• The Ministry of Road Transport Highways is structurally divided into Road wing, Transport Wing and its independent Finance Wing. Apart from these there is the Planning and Monitoring zone.
• The Secretary (Road Transport & Highways) is assisted by Director General (Road Development) & Special Secretary, Joint Secretary (Road Transport), Financial Advisor, Advisor (Transport Research).^[3]
• Director General (Road Development) is responsible for Development & Maintenance of National Highways.
• Joint Secretary looks after transport administration, public grievances, vigilance road safety and coordination & public relations^[3]
• Accounts Wing is headed by the Chief Controller of Accounts who is responsible for accounts budget, work and study.^[3]
• Advisor (Transport Research) renders necessary data support to various wings of the Ministry for policy planning, transport coordination, economic and statistical analysis on various modes of transport with which the ministry is concerned.^[3]

Following are the autonomous agencies, subordinate offices regional offices under the Director General.^[3]

Agencies[]

• National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)
• National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL)
• Indian Roads Construction Corporation (IRCC)
• Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE), Sector 62, Noida ^[4]

Regional Offices[]

• Bangalore
• Chennai
• Mumbai
• Kolkata
• Chandigarh
• Jaipur
• Patna
• Guwahati
• Hyderabad
• Gandhinagar
• Bhubaneshwar
• Bhopal
• Thiruvananthapuram
• Lucknow
• Varanasi
• Raipur
• Dehradun
• Shimla
• Surat

The ministry has following wings functioning under it:

Roads Wing[]

The road wing of the MORTH is the backbone of the country's road network development programme. It is staffed by officers of the Central Engineering Services (Roads). It is headed by Director General (Road Development) and Special Secretary to the Government of India.^[5]

The Road wing of MORTH is further divided into five Project Zones. Each Project zone is generally vested with responsibility of four to five states for National highway development and development of road network. These five project Zones are headed by five Additional Director Generals (ADG) of Central Engineering Services (Roads) cadre who are assisted by Zonal Chief Engineer of Headquarter and Regional Officers. Regional officers are posted on ground in their respective states for development and maintenance of National Highways through State PWDs.

Main responsibilities of the roads wing are:^[6]

• Planning, development and maintenance of National Highways
• Extends technical and financial support to the state government for development of state roads and roads of inter-state connectivity and national importance.
• Setting standards for building and maintenance of roads and bridges.
• Archiving important technical knowledge generated through projects and R&D.
• Sanctioning of works related to construction, maintenance and operation of National Highways.
• Sanctioning the estimates for various centrally sponsored schemes including CRF (Central Road Fund), Roads of Interstate Connectivity.
• Dealing the matters related to road safety.
• Administration of NH act 1956, The Highway Administration Rules 2005

Transport Wing[]

Main responsibilities of the transport wing are:^{[citation needed]}

• Motor Vehicle Legislation
• Taxation of motor vehicles
• Compulsory insurance for vehicles
• Promotion of Transport cooperatives in the field of motor transport.
• Setting National road safety standards
• Compiling data on road accidents and evolving a road safety culture among the people in the country
• Providing grants to NGOs in accordance with laid down guidelines.

Planning and Monitoring Zone[]

This zones are headed by two separate Chief Engineers of Central Engineering Services (Roads). Main responsibilities of this zone are:^{[citation needed]}

• Preparation of budgets and scheme wise allocation of funds maintaining records of expenditure.
• Identification of stretches that may form probable network of National Highways.
• Notification and de-notification of National Highways.
• The Monitoring Zone deals with the monitoring and reviewing progress of ongoing NH works dealt by various executing Agencies of NH development.

Standards and Research (S&R) Zone[]

This zones is headed by a Chief Engineers of Central Engineering Services (Roads). Main responsibilities of this zone is Preparation of standards/ rules / guidelines for NH development program and related activities.

Acts[]

Over years the ministry has passed several acts to maintain law and order in Road Transport in the country

• Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
• National Highways Authority of India Act, 1988

Statistics[]

India has one of the largest road networks of over 4.885 million km consisting of :^[7]

Road Length Distribution

Roads	Length
National Highways/Expressways	1,32,500 km
State Highways	1,56,694 km
Other Roads	56,08,477 km
Total	58,97,671 km

The total road length of India had grown more than 11 times in 60 years from 1951 to 2011; also the length of the surfaced roads had increased about 16 times over the same period. The connectivity in India has tremendously improved due to formation of new surface roads.^[8]

For development of roads in the country the government has made an allocation of ₹19,423.88 crores under the Central Road Fund for 2013–2014 with the following breakup:^[9]

Type	Grants
Grants to State Governments and UTs for State Roads	₹2,659.91 crores
Grants to SGs and UTs for inte-state connectivity and roads of national importance	₹262.22 crores
National Highways	₹9,881.95 crores
Rural Roads	₹5,827.20 crores
Railways	₹1092.60 crores
Total	₹19,423.88 crores

Government Initiatives[]

The government has provided various incentives for private and foreign investments in the roads sector. 100% FDI is allowed in the sectors of land transport to promote building of highway bridges, toll roads, and vehicular tunnels; services incidental to transport such as cargo handling is incidental to land transport; construction and maintenance of roads, bridges; and construction and maintenance of roads and highways offered on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, including collection of toll.

A 10-year tax exemption under Section 80 IA has been granted to the highway building projects to attract private investors. The ministry has also framed a ‘Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North Eastern Region' for improving road connectivity to remote places in this region. The estimated cost of the proposal is US$2.53 billion. The Union Budget 2012–13 proposed an increase of allocation of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways by 14% to ₹25,360 crore (US$3.6 billion).

The World Bank has approved a US$975 million loan for developing the first phase of the eastern arm of the US$17.21 billion Dedicated Freight Corridor Project in India. The Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Ltd. has tied up with the Japanese Bank of Industrial Cooperation for US$14.56 billion funding as loan for the first phase and it is likely to be commissioned in 2016.^[10]

The Prime Minister Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) is a scheme for development of rural roads in India. The Construction of Rural Roads Project (CRRP) is another initiative focused on rural development.

National Green Highways Program[]

Ministry of Transport and NHAI has launched the green highways programme in 2016.^{[11][12][13][14]}

List of Ministers of Road Transport and Highways[]

No	Name	Portrait	Term of office			Political Party		Prime Minister
1	John Matthai (As Minister of Transport)		15 August 1947	22 September 1948	1 year, 38 days	Indian National Congress		Jawaharlal Nehru
2	N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar (As Minister of Railways and Transport)		22 September 1948	13 May 1952	3 years, 234 days
3	Lal Bahadur Shastri		13 May 1952	7 December 1956	4 years, 208 days
4	Jagjivan Ram		7 December 1956	17 April 1957	131 days
(3)	Lal Bahadur Shastri (As Minister of Transport and Communications)		17 April 1957	28 March 1958	345 days
5	S. K. Patil		29 March 1958	24 August 1959	1 year, 148 days
6	P. Subbarayan		2 September 1959	10 April 1962	2 years, 220 days
(4)	Jagjivan Ram		10 April 1962	31 August 1963	1 year, 143 days
7	Raj Bahadur		10 April 1964	24 January 1966	1 year, 289 days
8	Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (As Minister of Transport, Aviation, Shipping and Tourism)		24 January 1966	13 March 1967	1 year, 48 days			Indira Gandhi
Minister of Transport and Shipping
9	V. K. R. V. Rao		13 March 1967	14 February 1969	1 year, 338 days	Indian National Congress		Indira Gandhi
10	Kotha Raghuramaiah		14 February 1969	5 February 1973	3 years, 357 days
(7)	Raj Bahadur		5 February 1973	8 November 1973	276 days
11	Kamalapati Tripathi		8 November 1973	10 February 1975	1 year, 94 days
12	Uma Shankar Dikshit		10 February 1975	1 December 1975	294 days
13	G. S. Dhillon		1 December 1975	24 March 1977	1 year, 113 days
14	Morarji Desai		24 March 1977	14 August 1977	143 days	Janata Party		Morarji Desai
15	Anant Prasad Sharma		14 January 1980	19 October 1980	279 days	Indian National Congress		Indira Gandhi
16	Veerendra Patil		19 October 1980	2 September 1982	1 year, 318 days
17	C. M. Stephen		2 September 1982	2 February 1983	153 days
18	Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy		2 February 1983	7 September 1984	1 year, 218 days
(16)	Veerendra Patil		7 September 1984	31 December 1984	115 days
19	Ziaur Rahman Ansari (Independent Charge)		31 December 1984	25 September 1985	268 days			Rajiv Gandhi
20	Bansi Lal (As Minister of Transport)		25 September 1985	24 June 1986	272 days
21	Mohsina Kidwai		24 June 1986	22 October 1986	120 days
Minister of Surface Transport
22	Rajesh Pilot (Independent Charge)		22 October 1986	2 December 1989	3 years, 41 days	Indian National Congress		Rajiv Gandhi
23	K. P. Unnikrishnan		6 December 1989	10 November 1990	339 days	Janata Dal		V. P. Singh
24	Manubhai Kotadia		10 November 1990	26 April 1991	167 days	Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)		Chandra Shekhar
25	Chandra Shekhar		26 April 1991	21 June 1991	56 days
26	Jagdish Tytler (Independent Charge)		21 June 1991	15 September 1995	4 years, 86 days	Indian National Congress		P. V. Narasimha Rao
27	M. Rajasekara Murthy (Independent Charge)		15 September 1995	16 May 1996	244 days
28	Atal Bihari Vajpayee		16 May 1996	1 June 1996	16 days	Bharatiya Janata Party		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
29	T. G. Venkatraman		1 June 1996	19 March 1998	1 year, 291 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral
30	R. Muthiah		19 March 1998	8 April 1998	20 days	All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
31	M. Thambidurai		8 April 1998	8 April 1999	1 year, 0 days
32	Nitish Kumar		9 April 1999	5 August 1999	118 days	Samata Party
33	Jaswant Singh		5 August 1999	13 October 1999	69 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
(31)	Nitish Kumar		13 October 1999	22 November 1999	40 days	Samata Party
34	Rajnath Singh		22 November 1999	25 October 2000	338 days	Bharatiya Janata Party
(28)	Atal Bihari Vajpayee		25 October 2000	7 November 2000	13 days
Minister of Road Transport & Highways
35	B. C. Khanduri (Independent Charge till 24 May 2003)		7 November 2000	22 May 2004	3 years, 197 days	Bharatiya Janata Party		Atal Bihari Vajpayee
36	T. R. Baalu		22 May 2004	22 May 2009	5 years, 0 days	Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam		Manmohan Singh
37	Kamal Nath		28 May 2009	19 January 2011	1 year, 236 days	Indian National Congress
38	C. P. Joshi		19 January 2011	16 June 2013	2 years, 148 days
39	Oscar Fernandes		17 June 2013	25 May 2014	344 days
40	Nitin Gadkari		26 May 2014	Incumbent	7 years, 115 days	Bharatiya Janata Party		Narendra Modi

List of Ministers of State[]

Ministers of State For Road Transport and Highways hide

Minister of state	Portrait	Political party		Term		Years
Krishan Pal Gurjar		Bharatiya Janata Party		26 May 2014	9 November 2014	167 days
Pon Radhakrishnan				9 November 2014	3 September 2017	2 years, 298 days
Mansukh L. Mandaviya				5 July 2016	30 May 2019	2 years, 329 days
V. K. Singh				30 May 2019	Incumbent	2 years, 111 days

See also[]

• National Highways Authority of India
• National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited
• Ministry of Surface Transport (India)
• FASTag

References[]

15. https://sarathi.parivahan.gov.in/SarathiReport/sarathiHomePublic.do

External links[]

• Ministry website
• Parivahan Sewa
• Sarathi Parivahan Sewa