AI-powered road infrastructure transformation

India aspires to become a Viksit Bharat by 2047, the centenary of independence. The path to this future will be paved by a road network that connects citizens, markets, ideas, and opportunities. Roads have always been the arteries of economic growth, carrying the pulse of progress by enabling social equity and global competitiveness. However, the challenges of the 21st century like rapid urbanisation, climate change, congestion, road user safety, growing logistics costs, and the sheer scale of infrastructure required demand that we move beyond conventional construction and development methods. Embracing innovation, sustainability and intelligent systems will be key to building roads that truly reflect the ambition and resilience of a futuristic India.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers an opportunity to redefine how roads are conceived, planned, built, managed and optimised. Integrated with digital twins, IoT-enabled sensors, GIS, BIM, and computer vision, AI can transform roads from static infrastructure into dynamic, intelligent systems that learn and adapt in real-time.

With the full realisation of an AI-enabled infrastructure vision, India’s road infrastructure industry can significantly reduce construction delays and enhance project quality through intelligent, automated construction systems. Intelligent traffic management, toll automation, road condition assessment and predictive maintenance systems can ensure roads remain efficient throughout their design life. Predictive safety technologies can help lower road fatalities, while AI-driven planning can support alignment of road infrastructure’s carbon footprint with the country’s Net Zero 2070 commitments.

By 2047, roads must be celebrated not just for their vast reach in kilometres, but for their intelligence, resilience, and purpose, standing as a beacon of the nation’s progress and ambition. To fuel this momentum, it is imperative to foster an ecosystem of enabling policies, institutional frameworks, and strategic partnerships that can effectively steer, regulate and scale innovation across the road infrastructure landscape.