The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways shared that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has planned to develop 10,000 km of optic fibre cable infrastructure across India, to be fully developed by FY2024-25. The ministry has designated pilot routes for the digital highway development and the goal is to bring internet connectivity to remote locations and fasten the deployment of advanced telecom technologies.
April 19, 2023
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is planning to develop around 10,000 km of optic fibre cable (OFC) infrastructure across the country, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways recently announced. The digital highway network will be executed by NHAI’s fully-owned special purpose vehicle, National Highways Logistics Management Ltd (NHLML), by creating integrated utility corridors along national highways. OFC work along national highways has commenced and is expected to be fully developed by fiscal year 2024-25.
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The ministry has designated pilot routes, with 1,367 km of the Delhi-Mumbai expressway and 512 km of the Hyderabad-Bangalore corridor chosen for digital highway development. The newly launched 246 km-long Delhi-Dausa-Lalsot section of the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway features a three-metre-wide utility corridor for OFC installation, which will facilitate the region’s 5G network rollout. The ministry stated that the OFC network will enable a direct plug-and-play or “fibre-on-demand” model for telecom and internet services and this infrastructure will be leased out through a web portal using a fixed price allotment mechanism on an “Open for All” basis to eligible users. The digital highway initiative is aimed towards contributing to India’s digital transformation through catalyzing growth and development.
