| Ministry overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | July 1942 |
| 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 |
| Annual budget | ₹91,823 crore (US$11 billion) (2020–21 est.)[1] |
| Minister responsible | |
| Deputy Minister responsible | |
| Ministry executives |
|
| Child agencies | |
| Website | morth |
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.
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.
There are two departments under it:
Following are the autonomous agencies, subordinate offices regional offices under the Director General.[3]
The ministry has following wings functioning under it:
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]
Main responsibilities of the transport wing are:[citation needed]
This zones are headed by two separate Chief Engineers of Central Engineering Services (Roads). Main responsibilities of this zone are:[citation needed]
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.
Over years the ministry has passed several acts to maintain law and order in Road Transport in the country
India has one of the largest road networks of over 4.885 million km consisting of :[7]
| 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 |
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.
Ministry of Transport and NHAI has launched the green highways programme in 2016.[11][12][13][14]
| No | Portrait | Name | Term of office | Prime Minister | Political Party | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John Matthai | 15 August 1947 | 22 September 1948 | 1 year, 38 days | Jawaharlal Nehru | Indian National Congress | ||
| 2 | N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar | 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 | 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 | 24 January 1966 | 13 March 1967 | 1 year, 48 days | Indira Gandhi | |||
| 9 | V. K. R. V. Rao | 13 March 1967 | 14 February 1969 | 1 year, 338 days | ||||
| 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 | Morarji Desai | Janata Party | ||
| 15 | Chand Ram | 14 August 1977 | 28 July 1980 | 1 year 347 days | Morarji Desai | Janata Party | ||
| 16 | Anant Prasad Sharma | 14 January 1980 | 19 October 1980 | 279 days | Indira Gandhi | Indian National Congress | ||
| 17 | Veerendra Patil | 19 October 1980 | 2 September 1982 | 1 year, 318 days | ||||
| 18 | C. M. Stephen | 2 September 1982 | 2 February 1983 | 153 days | ||||
| 19 | 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 | 25 September 1985 | 24 June 1986 | 272 days | ||||
| 21 | Mohsina Kidwai | 24 June 1986 | 22 October 1986 | 120 days | ||||
| 22 | Rajesh Pilot (Independent Charge) |
22 October 1986 | 2 December 1989 | 3 years, 41 days | Rajiv Gandhi | |||
| 23 | K. P. Unnikrishnan | 6 December 1989 | 10 November 1990 | 339 days | V. P. Singh | Janata Dal | ||
| 24 | Manubhai Kotadia | 10 November 1990 | 26 April 1991 | 167 days | Chandra Shekhar | Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya) | ||
| 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 | Narasimha Rao | Indian National Congress | ||
| 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 | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 29 | T. G. Venkatraman | 1 June 1996 | 19 March 1998 | 1 year, 291 days | Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral |
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| 30 | R. Muthiah | 19 March 1998 | 8 April 1998 | 20 days | Atal Bihari Vajpayee | All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| 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 | ||||
| 35 | B. C. Khanduri (Independent Charge till 24 May 2003) |
7 November 2000 | 22 May 2004 | 3 years, 197 days | ||||
| 36 | T. R. Baalu | 22 May 2004 | 22 May 2009 | 5 years, 0 days | Manmohan Singh | Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam | ||
| 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 | 8 years, 304 days | Narendra Modi | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| Portrait | Minister of state | Term | Years | Political party | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Krishan Pal Gurjar | 26 May 2014 | 9 November 2014 | 167 days | Bharatiya Janata Party | ||
| 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 | 3 years, 300 days | |||
