• To generate revenues, the transport ministry has offered its highways to be used for the laying of optic fibers, gas and oil pipes
• Indian highway stretches 2 lakh kilometers in length
• The revenue will be further used by transport ministry for improving the quality of roads

July 19, 2017: The Indian Highway, stretching 2 lakh kilometers in length, have been offered for the laying of optic fibers, oil and gas pipelines by the Transport Ministry.

The transport ministry hopes to generate more revenues with this decision. The revenue will be utilized for improving and maintaining the quality of roads.

Nitin Gadkari announced this decision on behalf of the ministry at INFOCOM 2017. The minister said, "For building and maintaining a competitive edge over the world, there is a need to leverage technology to get the maximum returns from assets."

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PTI also reports the announcement of computerized processes for driving license. Gadkari, speaking at INFOCOM 2017, said "The fitness of a person for issue driving license will be decided through a computer program with no human interference. This will greatly enhance safety on roads by ensuring that licenses are issued only to deserving drivers."

The ministry's initiative of e-tolling, implemented last year, has already made significant contributions to cut down traffic and congestion on Indian highways, observed Nitin Gadkari.

– Prepared by Saksham Narula of NewsGram. Twitter: @Saksham2394