New Delhi: Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari while addressing the stakeholder consultation workshop in New Delhi, organised by the National Highways Authority of India, on Thursday, said, “Technology is a great enabler, and the adoption of Automated & Intelligent Machine-Aided Construction is a step in the right direction. We have achieved success in the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway pilot project and soon we will implement this technology to other projects also.”
In his address, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways Ajay Tamta said, “India has made remarkable strides in developing world-class roads and highways that have significantly enhanced our infrastructure. Every stakeholder plays a vital role in this transformation. As we move forward, leveraging advanced technology such as sensors, satellites, and real-time monitoring will be key to accelerating progress. With continuous technological advancements, we are committed to aligning India’s road infrastructure with Vision 2047 and taking our National Highway network to a world-class level.”
V Umashankar, Secretary, MoRTH said, “The roads and highways that we construct today will serve our nation for many years to come. Therefore, time and quality of construction are the two critical parameters that we have been focusing on. Compaction is a crucial aspect of road construction, and today’s technology helps us address its challenges. I am sure that deliberations at this workshop will provide critical insights that will help us in adopting AIMC technology for the enhancement of National Highway construction.”
In his welcome address, Vishal Chauhan, Member (Administration), NHAI, emphasised that the inputs from this stakeholder consultation workshop will contribute to transforming conventional NH construction methods into a data-driven approach by integrating AI-MC technology. Also, Anil Choudhary, Member (Projects), NHAI, presented a brief on stakeholder consultation held during the workshop.
To enhance National Highway construction prowess by leveraging ‘Automated & Intelligent Machine-Aided Construction’ (AIMC) technology, NHAI organised the consultation workshop to deliberate and provide suggestions to enhance the recently released draft policy for the ‘Adoption of Automated & Intelligent Machine-Aided Construction (AIMC) in National Highways Projects’ by MoRTH.
Recently, NHAI has successfully implemented a pilot project of AIMC on the Lucknow-Kanpur Expressway, wherein Automated & Intelligent Machines such as GPS-aided Motor Grader, Intelligent Compactor, and stringless Paver have been used. Based on the evaluation of AIMC’s efficacy in this project, feedback from stakeholders, and international guidelines/specifications, NHAI will adopt AIMC for the construction of additional Greenfield Expressways and Access-Controlled corridor projects.
The draft policy underlines various aspects and the potential of Automated & Intelligent Machine-Aided Construction in transforming National Highway development across the country.
Senior officials from MoRTH, NHAI, NHIDCL, technology providers, concessionaires, consultants, machine equipment manufacturers, and other stakeholders were present on the occasion.