NEW DELHI: In a bid to push building and maintenance of highways in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA government has in the recent weeks taken steps in a bid to attract investors to the infrastructure sector and build strategic roads.The government is looking at awarding 10,000 km of highways in the current fiscal as it tries to meet the construction target of 30 km of roads per day during the next two years.The target comes at a time when as many as 437 road projects have been running behind schedule. 101 projects are under disputes and 57 got terminated over the last three years.The government had set a target of constructing 6,300 kms of roads in 2013-14 and 2014-15 each, of which 4,260 kms and 4,410 kms, respectively, were achieved during the two fiscals.Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has stressed on the need to national highways at a faster pace. We take a look at five recent announcements that have been made with regards to building and maintaining highways in the country.In a first of its kind move, the road transport ministry is looking to auction about 5,000 km of government-funded national highway stretches nearing completion in a bid to attract overseas investors and generate resources to construct more roads across the country.The ministry is hoping to mop up around Rs 1 lakh crore through the auction from investors such as private equity players and pension and insurance funds, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari told TOI. The government's investment to develop these stretches is estimated at Rs 40,000-50,000 crore.The move comes at a time when Indian players are reluctant to invest in the road sector, citing large debt on their books and the failure of the government to ensure availability of land for several projects. The government has launched an exercise to get road projects moving.Highway drivers may soon be able to tune in to updates on traffic, route, eateries and the weather, thanks to a road ministry initiative that could go a long way in easing driving anxiety on the country's thoroughfares.The road transport ministry wants to start its highway radio advisory service on three radio frequencies. For this it has approached the information and broadcasting ministry, a senior official told ET, adding that the pilot project is expected on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.Once the road ministry gets the spectrum allocated for the radio stations, it will float tender inviting private players to operate the service, the official added.The initiative is part of the government's plan to build an intelligent transport system that addresses concerns regarding environment pollution and road safety through enhanced data collection. Highway radio advisories, common in developed nations, play a crucial role in driving safety.The government has approved a comprehensive exit policy for the roads sector, allowing developers to quit a project two years after completion, a measure that will help the stressed sector monetise assets and unlock the capital for future projects.The Cabinet Committee of Economic Affairs (CCEA) has allowed highway developers to divest 100% stake two years after the completion of construction. The exit policy will harmonise the conditions uniformly across all concessions signed prior to 2009 with the exit policy framework of post 2009 contracts.The move comes at a time when the private sector's interest in public-private partnership (PPP) has dwindled to the extent that most such projects have failed to get even a single bid.About 80 projects bid on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis with a locked in equity of Rs 4,500 crore are likely to benefit from this policy.Bharat Mala is the name given to a ambitious programme of the Modi government - a road built along India's vast west-to-east land border, from Gujarat to Mizoram, at a cost of around Rs 14,000 crore, and linking that to a road network in coastal states, from Maharashtra to Bengal. This is a road network that will, as it were, garland the territory of India. Hence the name.The Bharat Mala project has started with a detailed all-India assessment of the existing network. Officials said the government will have to construct some 5,300 km of new roads at an estimated cost of about Rs 12,000-14,000 crore for covering India's entire west-to-east land border.The government hopes to finish the project in five years. The project will start from Gujarat and Rajasthan, move to Punjab and then cover the entire string of Himalayan states - Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand - and then portions of borders of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar alongside Terai, and move to Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and right up to the Indo-Myanmar border in Manipur and Mizoram.The Bharat Mala plan has a strong strategic component. It's India's attempted answer to improve reach and connectivity in border areas, right across a large part of which lies China's impressive road infrastructure.To take stock of the condition of highways including their maintenance and next likely schedule for overlaying, the government will carry out a road assessment exercise through a new modified vehicle.While building new stretches and widening existing ones are seen as achievements for any ruling party, all these years governments have failed to keep the existing road network in good condition, something that often goes against the ruling establishment.To start with about 3,000 km of highways spread across states including Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu will be covered by a vehicle equipped with modern gadgets to record every aspect of the road. This vehicle will collect data and other details for the new programme named road measurement and data acquisition system (RODMAS).The vehicle fitted with GPS, advanced lasers, automated measurement system, cameras to record HD videos will record road condition, wayside amenities, accident prone zones, road strength, condition of bridges and culverts besides encroachment. All these data will be fed into a system to help government prioritize and plan maintenance, upgradation and expansion of certain stretches.