Ministry of Road Transport and Highways
Ministry overview
FormedJuly 1942; 81 years ago (1942-07)
JurisdictionGovernment of India
HeadquartersTransport 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 budget270,435 crore (US$34 billion)
(2023-24 est.)
[1]
Minister responsible
Deputy Minister responsible
Ministry executives
Child agencies
Websitemorth.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]

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

There are two departments under it:

Organisational structure

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

Agencies

Regional Offices

City State / Union Territory
Bengaluru State of Karnataka
Chennai State of Tamil Nadu
Mumbai State of Maharashtra
Kolkata State of West Bengal
Chandigarh Union Territory of Chandigarh
Jaipur State of Rajasthan
Patna State of Bihar
Guwahati State of Assam
Hyderabad State of Telangana
Gandhinagar State of Gujarat
Bhubaneswar State of Odisha
Bhopal State of Madhya Pradesh
Thiruvananthapuram State of Kerala
Lucknow State of Uttar Pradesh
Varanasi State of Uttar Pradesh
Raipur State of Chhattisgarh
Dehradun State of Uttarakhand
Shimla State of Himachal Pradesh
Surat State of Gujarat

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]

Transport Wing

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

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]

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

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]

10
20
30
40
50
1950-51
1970-71
2000-01
2010-11
  •   Total length of roads (in lakh km)
  •   Total length of surfaced roads (in lakh km)

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$3.2 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]

Ministers

Cabinet Ministers

Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of Transport
John Mathai
(1886–1959)
15 August
1947
22 September
1948
1 year, 38 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of Transport and Railways
N. Gopalaswamy Ayyangar
(1882–1953)
MP for Madras (Interim)
22 September
1948
13 May
1952
3 years, 234 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
13 May
1952
7 December
1956
4 years, 208 days Nehru II
Jagjivan Ram
(1908–1986)
MP for Shahabad South
7 December
1956
17 April
1957
131 days
Ministers of Transport and Communications
Lal Bahadur Shastri
(1904–1966)
MP for Allahabad
17 April
1957
28 March
1958
345 days Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru
S. K. Patil
(1898–1981)
MP for Mumbai South
29 March
1958
24 August
1959
1 year, 148 days
P. Subbarayan
(1889–1962)
MP for Tiruchengode
2 September
1959
10 April
1962
2 years, 220 days
Jagjivan Ram
(1908–1986)
MP for Sasaram
10 April
1962
31 August
1963
1 year, 143 days Nehru IV
Raj Bahadur
(1912–1990)
MP for Bharatpur

Minister of Shipping
10 April
1962
1 September
1963
1 year, 144 days
Ministers of Transport
Raj Bahadur
(1912–1990)
MP for Bharatpur

Minister of Shipping
1 September
1963
10 April
1964
222 days Indian National Congress Nehru IV Jawaharlal Nehru
Raj Bahadur
(1912–1990)
MP for Bharatpur
10 April
1964
27 May
1964
1 year, 289 days
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
9 June
1964
11 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
11 January
1966
24 January
1966
Nanda II Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
Ministers of Transport and Civil Aviation
Neelam Sanjiva Reddy
(1913–1996)
MP for Andhra Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
1 year, 48 days Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi
Minister of Shipping and Transport
V. K. R. V. Rao
(1908–1991)
MP for Bellary
13 March
1967
14 February
1969
1 year, 338 days Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi
Kotha Raghuramaiah
(1912–1979)
MP for Guntur
14 February
1969
18 March
1971
3 years, 357 days
18 March
1971
5 February
1973
Indira II
Raj Bahadur
(1912–1990)
MP for Bharatpur
5 February
1973
8 November
1973
276 days
Kamalapati Tripathi
(1905–1990)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
8 November
1973
10 February
1975
1 year, 94 days
Uma Shankar Dikshit
(1901–1991)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
10 February
1975
1 December
1975
294 days
Gurdial Singh Dhillon
(1915–1992)
MP for Tarn Taran
1 December
1975
24 March
1977
1 year, 113 days
Morarji Desai
(1896–1995)
MP for Surat

(Prime Minister)
24 March
1977
7 June
1977
75 days Janata Party Desai Morarji Desai
Jagjivan Ram
(1908–1986)
MP for Sasaram

(Deputy Prime Minister)
7 June
1977
17 June
1977
10 days
Morarji Desai
(1896–1995)
MP for Surat

(Prime Minister)
17 June
1977
14 August
1977
58 days
Chand Ram
(1923–2015)
MP for Sirsa

(MoS, I/C)
14 August
1977
28 July
1979
1 year, 348 days
Janeshwar Mishra
(1933–2010)
MP for Allahabad

(MoS, I/C)
30 July
1979
14 January
1980
168 days Janata Party (Secular) Charan Singh Charan Singh
Anant Sharma
(1919–1988)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
14 January
1980
19 October
1980
279 days Indian National Congress Indira III Indira Gandhi
Veerendra Patil
(1924–1997)
MP for Bagalkot
19 October
1980
2 September
1982
1 year, 318 days
C. M. Stephen
(1918–1984)
MP for Gulbarga
2 September
1982
2 February
1983
153 days
Kotla Vijaya Bhaskara Reddy
(1920–2001)
MP for Kurnool
2 February
1983
7 September
1984
1 year, 218 days
Veerendra Patil
(1924–1997)
MP for Bagalkot
7 September
1984
31 October
1984
54 days
4 November
1984
31 December
1984
57 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
Ziaur Rahman Ansari
(1925–1992)
MP for Unnao

(MoS, I/C)
31 December
1984
25 September
1985
268 days Rajiv II
Minister of Transport
Bansi Lal
(1927–2006)
MP for Bhiwani
25 September
1985
4 June
1986
252 days Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
Rajiv Gandhi
(1944–1991)
MP for Amethi

(Prime Minister)
4 June
1986
24 June
1986
20 days
Mohsina Kidwai
(born 1932)
MP for Meerut
24 June
1986
22 October
1986
120 days
Minister of Surface Transport
Rajesh Pilot
(1945–2000)
MP for Dausa

(MoS, I/C)
22 October
1986
2 December
1989
3 years, 41 days Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
K. P. Unnikrishnan
(born 1936)
MP for Vatakara
6 December
1989
10 November
1990
339 days Janata Dal Vishwanath V. P. Singh
Manubhai Kotadia
(1936–2003)
MP for Amreli
21 November
1990
26 April
1991
156 days Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar
Chandra Shekhar
(1927–2007)
MP for Ballia

(Prime Minister)
26 April
1991
21 June
1991
56 days
Jagdish Tytler
(born 1944)
MP for Delhi Sadar

(MoS, I/C)
21 June
1991
15 September
1995
4 years, 86 days Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
M. Rajasekara Murthy
(1922–2010)
MP for Mysore

(MoS, I/C)
15 September
1995
16 May
1996
244 days
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
16 May
1996
1 June
1996
16 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee I Atal Bihari Vajpayee
T. G. Venkatraman
(1931–2013)
MP for Tindivanam
1 June
1996
21 April
1997
324 days Janata Dal Deve Gowda H. D. Deve Gowda
21 April
1997
19 March
1998
Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral
Sedapatti Muthiah
(1945–2022)
MP for Periyakulam
19 March
1998
8 April
1998
20 days All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
M. Thambidurai
(born 1947)
MP for Karur
8 April
1998
8 April
1999
1 year, 0 days
Nitish Kumar
(born 1951)
MP for Barh
8 April
1999
5 August
1999
119 days Samata Party
Jaswant Singh
(1938–2020)
MP for Rajasthan (Rajya Sabha)
5 August
1999
13 October
1999
69 days Bharatiya Janata Party
Nitish Kumar
(born 1951)
MP for Barh
13 October
1999
22 November
1999
40 days Samata Party Vajpayee III
Rajnath Singh
(born 1951)
MP for Uttar Pradesh (Rajya Sabha)
22 November
1999
25 October
2000
338 days Bharatiya Janata Party
Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(1924–2018)
MP for Lucknow

(Prime Minister)
25 October
2000
7 November
2000
13 days
Minister of Road Transport and Highways
Major General (Retd.)
B. C. Khanduri

AVSM
(born 1934)
MP for Garhwal

(MoS, I/C until 24 May 2003)
7 November
2000
22 May
2004
3 years, 197 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee
T. R. Baalu
(born 1941)
MP for Chennai South
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
Kamal Nath
(born 1946)
MP for Chhindwara
29 May
2009
19 January
2011
1 year, 235 days Indian National Congress Manmohan II
C. P. Joshi
(born 1950)
MP for Bhilwara
19 January
2011
15 June
2013
2 years, 147 days
Manmohan Singh
(born 1932)
MP for Assam (Rajya Sabha)

(Prime Minister)
15 June
2013
17 June
2013
2 days
Oscar Fernandes
(1941–2021)
MP for Karnataka (Rajya Sabha)
17 June
2013
26 May
2014
343 days
Nitin Gadkari
(born 1957)
MP for Nagpur
27 May
2014
30 May
2019
9 years, 88 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
31 May
2019
Incumbent Modi II

Ministers of State

Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Minister of State for Transport and Railways
K. Santhanam
(1895–1980)
MP for Madras (Constituent Assembly)
1 October
1948
29 May
1952
3 years, 241 days Indian National Congress Nehru I Jawaharlal Nehru
Minister of State for Transport and Communications
Humayun Kabir
(1906–1969)
MP for West Bengal (Rajya Sabha)
17 April
1957
10 April
1958
358 days Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru
Raj Bahadur
(1912–1990)
MP for Bharatpur
17 April
1957
10 April
1962
4 years, 358 days
Minister of State for Transport and Civil Aviation
C. M. Poonacha
(1910–1990)
MP for Mysore (Rajya Sabha)
24 January
1966
13 March
1967
1 year, 48 days Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi
Minister of State for Shipping and Transport
Om Mehta
(1927–1995)
MP for Jammu and Kashmir (Rajya Sabha)
2 May
1971
5 February
1973
1 year, 279 days Indian National Congress Indira II Indira Gandhi
Mansinhji Bhasaheb Rana
MP for Broach
5 February
1973
11 January
1974
340 days
H. M. Trivedi
MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha)
17 October
1974
24 March
1977
2 years, 158 days
Buta Singh
(1934–2021)
MP for Ropar
8 June
1980
15 January
1982
1 year, 221 days Indira III Indira Gandhi
Sitaram Kesri
(1919–2000)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
15 January
1982
29 January
1983
1 year, 14 days
Ziaur Rahman Ansari
(1925–1992)
MP for Unnao
29 January
1983
31 October
1984
54 days
4 November
1984
31 December
1984
57 days Rajiv I Rajiv Gandhi
Minister of State for Transport
Madhavrao Scindia
(1945–2001)
MP for Gwalior

(Railways)
25 September
1985
22 October
1986
1 year, 27 days Indian National Congress Rajiv II Rajiv Gandhi
Rajesh Pilot
(1945–2000)
MP for Dausa

(Surface Transport)
Jagdish Tytler
(born 1944)
MP for Delhi Sadar

(Civil Aviation)
Minister of State for Surface Transport
Debendra Pradhan
(born 1941)
MP for Deogarh
19 March
1998
13 October
1999
2 years, 69 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee II Atal Bihari Vajpayee
13 October
1999
27 May
2000
Vajpayee III
Hukmdev Narayan Yadav
(born 1939)
MP for Madhubani
27 May
2000
2 November
2001
1 year, 159 days
Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways
Shripad Naik
(born 1952)
MP for Panaji
24 May
2003
8 September
2003
107 days Bharatiya Janata Party Vajpayee III Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Pon Radhakrishnan
(born 1952)
MP for Kanniyakumari
8 September
2003
22 May
2004
257 days
K. H. Muniyappa
(born 1948)
MP for Kolar
23 May
2004
22 May
2009
4 years, 364 days Indian National Congress Manmohan I Manmohan Singh
Mahadeo Singh Khandela
(born 1943)
MP for Sikar
28 May
2009
27 October
2012
3 years, 152 days Manmohan II
R. P. N. Singh
(born 1964)
MP for Kushi Nagar
28 May
2009
19 January
2011
1 year, 236 days
Jitin Prasada
(born 1973)
MP for Dhaurahra
19 January
2011
28 October
2012
1 year, 283 days
Tushar Amarsinh Chaudhary
(born 1965)
MP for Bardoli
19 January
2011
26 May
2014
3 years, 127 days
Sarve Satyanarayana
(born 1954)
MP for Malkajgiri
28 October
2012
26 May
2014
1 year, 149 days
Krishan Pal Gurjar
(born 1957)
MP for Faridabad
26 May
2014
9 November
2014
167 days Bharatiya Janata Party Modi I Narendra Modi
Pon Radhakrishnan
(born 1952)
MP for Kanniyakumari
9 November
2014
3 September
2017
2 years, 298 days
Mansukh Mandaviya
(born 1972)
MP for Gujarat (Rajya Sabha)
5 July
2016
30 May
2019
2 years, 329 days
General
V. K. Singh (Retd.)

PVSM AVSM YSM ADC
(born 1950)
MP for Ghaziabad
31 May
2019
Incumbent 4 years, 84 days Modi II

Deputy Ministers

Portrait Minister
(Birth-Death)
Constituency
Term of office Political party Ministry Prime Minister
From To Period
Deputy Minister of Transport and Communications
Mohiuddin Ahmed
(1898–?)
MP for Secunderabad

(Civil Aviation)
2 April
1958
10 April
1962
4 years, 8 days Indian National Congress Nehru III Jawaharlal Nehru
Mohiuddin Ahmed
(1898–?)
MP for Secunderabad
16 April
1962
1 September
1963
1 year, 138 days Nehru IV
Bijoy Chandra Bhagavati
(1905–1997)
MP for Tezpur
8 May
1962
1 September
1963
1 year, 116 days
Deputy Minister of Transport
Mohiuddin Ahmed
(1898–?)
MP for Secunderabad
1 September
1963
27 May
1964
2 years, 126 days Indian National Congress Nehru IV Jawaharlal Nehru
27 May
1964
9 June
1964
Nanda I Gulzarilal Nanda
(acting)
15 June
1964
5 January
1966
Shastri Lal Bahadur Shastri
Deputy Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation
Jahanara Jaipal Singh
(1923–2004)
MP for Bihar (Rajya Sabha)
15 February
1966
13 March
1967
1 year, 26 days Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi
Deputy Minister of Shipping and Transport
Bhakt Darshan
(1912–1991)
MP for Garhwal
18 March
1967
18 February
1969
1 year, 337 days Indian National Congress Indira I Indira Gandhi
Sardar Iqbal Singh
(1923–1988)
MP for Fazilka
14 February
1969
18 March
1971
2 years, 32 days
Pranab Mukherjee
(1935–2020)
MP for West Bengal (Rajya Sabha)
11 January
1974
10 October
1974
272 days Indira II
Chaudhary Dalbir Singh
(1926–1987)
MP for Sirsa
1 December
1975
24 March
1977
1 year, 113 days
Deputy Minister of Surface Transport
P. Namgyal
(1937–2020)
MP for Ladakh
15 February
1988
4 July
1989
1 year, 139 days Indian National Congress Rao P. V. Narasimha Rao
Position not in use since 4 July 1989

See also

References

  1. ^ "Union Budget 2020-21 Analysis" (PDF). prsindia.org. 2020.
  2. ^ "Organisational History". Ministry of Shipping, Government of India. Archived from the original on 21 July 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Ninth Report of ERC" (PDF). Ministry of Finance, Government of India. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  4. ^ "IAHE - Contact Us". www.iahe.org.in.
  5. ^ Kavita, Mrrali. "Know about Parivahan Sarathi & its services -". Get true reviews for the products here. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  6. ^ "Wings under Ministry". MORTH. Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Annual Report 2013–2014" (PDF). Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Basic Road Statistics" (PDF). Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  9. ^ "CRF 2013–2014 allooction" (PDF). Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  10. ^ "Policy and Promotion". Invest India, GOI. Archived from the original on 22 September 2014. Retrieved 5 October 2014.
  11. ^ http://www.nitingadkari.org/pages/PR-pdf/plantation_drive.pdf[bare URL PDF]
  12. ^ "National Green Highway Mission : Environment for UPSC Exams | IAS EXAM PORTAL - India's Largest Community for UPSC Exam Aspirants". iasexamportal.com.
  13. ^ "Green Highways (Plantation & Maintenance) Policy-2015 - India Environment Portal | News, reports, documents, blogs, data, analysis on environment & development | India, South Asia". www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in.
  14. ^ "Finance ministry rejects Rs 5,000 crore green fund project by road ministry, NHAI". Governance Now. 17 August 2016.

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