Infrastructure | Monumental legacy
Modi's idea of India has gleaming highways and bullet trains, a statue of Patel and a new Parliament building
Viksit Bharat for Narendra Modi is more than an economic ideal; he wants India to look the part too. Infrastructure, therefore, has been at the centre of his governance, with a National Infrastructure Pipeline announced in 2019, and PM GatiShakti in 2022, incorporating a grand vision to transform India’s roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics. Among the latest showpieces is the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which promises to halve travel time between India’s national capital and its financial one from 24 hours to 12; and the 9.02-km-long Atal Tunnel, connecting Manali and the Lahaul-Spiti valley. Railways had their own milestone, a deck arch bridge higher than the Eiffel Tower, 359 metres above the Chenab in the remote Reasi district of Kashmir.
Viksit Bharat for Narendra Modi is more than an economic ideal; he wants India to look the part too. Infrastructure, therefore, has been at the centre of his governance, with a National Infrastructure Pipeline announced in 2019, and PM GatiShakti in 2022, incorporating a grand vision to transform India’s roads, railways, airports, ports, mass transport, waterways and logistics. Among the latest showpieces is the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway, which promises to halve travel time between India’s national capital and its financial one from 24 hours to 12; and the 9.02-km-long Atal Tunnel, connecting Manali and the Lahaul-Spiti valley. Railways had their own milestone, a deck arch bridge higher than the Eiffel Tower, 359 metres above the Chenab in the remote Reasi district of Kashmir.
Modi’s modernising urge touched the seat of government too, as he inaugurated a new Parliament building in 2023, part of a wider Central Vista Redevelopment Project. Home state Gujarat paid an architectural paean to Sardar Patel, with a 597-ft-tall Statue of Unity.
But grand as this vision is, cost overruns and delays take some of the shine out of it.