Pune: Infrastructure projects must be planned with a long-term vision of 25 to 50 years instead of being designed only to meet present-day requirements, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari said on Monday.
Speaking at the ‘Festival of Thinkers’ lecture series organised by a private university, Gadkari said long-term infrastructure planning was essential to support India’s economic growth and avoid repeatedly spending public money on temporary solutions.
On the development of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, Gadkari said road and highway capacity should be assessed by anticipating future traffic rather than current demand. “Instead of relying on temporary solutions to address present-day problems, infrastructure development must be based on long-term and forward-looking planning,” he said.
Gadkari said approximately ₹60,000 crore worth of infrastructure projects are planned for Pune in the coming period. He added that innovative financing models were being explored to implement the projects, without providing details of individual projects or their timelines.
He said stronger infrastructure would help reduce transportation costs, improve the competitiveness of Indian industries and strengthen connectivity between rural producers and markets. Better road connectivity would also support industrial growth, tourism and employment.
He also called for greater use of technology in road maintenance, advocating a shift from repairing roads after they deteriorate to identifying defects before they become major problems. “Drones, artificial intelligence, LiDAR and satellite technology could be deployed to monitor road conditions and enable predictive maintenance,” he said.
Gadkari said “predict before failure” should replace the existing approach of repairing infrastructure only after it fails, stressing that preventive maintenance would improve the efficiency and durability of public infrastructure.
He also emphasised that infrastructure expansion must be balanced with environmental protection and sustainable economic growth. Technological advancement, research, innovation, entrepreneurship and skill development, he said, would be critical to converting knowledge into economic value and generating employment.
