The Centre plans to complete the Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping of all national highways, including marking the jurisdiction of all state-owned developers, for better planning, execution and monitoring of the road network and timely completion of projects.

As part of the exercise, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has asked all project implementing units of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Border Roads Organisation (BRO), National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) and the ministry itself to complete marking their jurisdictions.

The main objective of this standard operating procedure (SOP) is to define responsibility areas for each national highway and use collected data for various communication purposes. Besides, the SOP will provide accurate and up-to-date information while enhancing the communication flow.

Tasked to take up highway construction to 50 km per day, GIS technology is expected to come to the aid of road construction agencies with proper information on alignments and any obstruction in the path of highways.

GIS provides agencies with the tools to build resilient infrastructure for the future and support strategic repairs and upgrades to existing networks. GIS maps contain a detailed visual representation of any infrastructure facility including location, topography, facilities and structures and images.

As these maps can easily be assessed – even though mobile phones – and shared, it makes the process of road construction and finalisation of highway networks easier.

This data can improve the ability of market players to forecast traffic and reduce revenue risk for projects, boosting investor interest in new BOT Toll and TOT projects.