Mumbai (AsiaNews/Agencies) - According to the latest Road Transport and Highways Ministry data, India had 4.7 million km in roads, surfaced or not, against 3.7 in 2004. In eight years, at least 125,000 km were added to the country's road network each year with the largest growth in rural roads, thus helping the most remote areas connect with the rest of the country. The national highways network also grew, from 70,000 km in 2008 to 76,818 km in 2012.
Conscious of the need to boost India's infrastructure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in early June announced a trillion dollar plan for new roads, airports and ports over the next five years.
India must improve road safety as well. In fact, last year there was one road accident every minute, claiming one life every 3.7 minutes.
Although the number of accidents dropped between 2010 and 2011, from 497,000 to 495,055, the number of deaths rose by 7,000 to 142,485.
Drivers were responsible for 77.5 per cent of road accidents whilst road conditions were blamed in 1.5 per cent of cases.
Among India's states, Maharashtra topped the road accident list (68,438) followed by Tamil Nadu (65,873), Madhya Pradesh (49,406), Karnataka (44,731) and Andhra Pradesh (44,165).