New Delhi: Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways V K Singh on Friday said that prefabricated materials would be used for making roads, which may increase the highway construction pace to 100-150 kilometres a day from the present 33 kilometres.

"We are working on ensuring that most of our things are prefabricated, except for making foundations for bridges and other things. Rest all will come as prefabricated material being built in a factory, being transported to site so that on the site, there is less pollution," said Singh

'Building roads with prefabricated materials is not that far'

"There's much more emphasis coming in and I'm sure that day is not far off when we will be able to make the road's surface with these prefabricated things which will come from factories and just be laid. So, today if we are getting 33 kilometres, maybe we will get 100 to 150 kilometres too and it is going to come," the minister explained.

'Decarbonisation for the aviation sector will be possible, if we can change the fuel system'

Speaking during a conference on 'Decarbonising Construction: Building a Low Carbon Future' organised by FICCI, Singh said that it is not just that the roads are being built but the standards for alternative fuels are also being laid.

"We have also tried out biofuels for aircraft. Still, there's a certain amount of study and research that is going on, because the aim is that most of the decarbonisation for the aviation sector will be possible, if we can change the fuel system of our aircraft and maintain it safely," said the minister.

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Govt is working on green highways: Singh

The government is also working on green highways, he said. The road ministry is creating expressways, and highways will have a lot of green cover on either side of the road, to reduce CO2 emissions.

"There are enough indigenous plants, whether it is Banyan, Peepal, or Neem. They are all in that variety," said the minister. In a lot of areas, the government has also entered into agreement with central groups of the villages which can look after these plantations.

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