Chintan Shivir 2026 Concludes: Emphasis on Center-State Collaboration for High-Quality Road Infrastructure

The two-day “Chintan Shivir 2026 – National Conference on Highway Infrastructure” concluded at the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat. The primary objective of the conference was to strengthen collaboration between the Central and State governments for the development of quality road infrastructure, share ground-level experiences, and promote institutional capacity building.

Addressing the concluding session, Mr. V. Umashankar, Secretary of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, stated that this Chintan Shivir provided an opportunity to develop a shared community among all stakeholders in the highway and road sector. He emphasized that to realize the vision of 'Viksit Bharat,' high-quality roads are essential across all levels, including urban and rural areas, state highways, national highways, and expressways, as the focus is now rapidly shifting toward the quality of infrastructure.

Discussions during the conference highlighted that states could benefit from technical platforms developed at the national level. These include platforms such as PM GatiShakti, Data Lake, eDAR, the Contractor Rating System, and Bhoomi Rashi. Mr. Umashankar noted that the AI-based eDAR platform, currently used for the national highway network, could be utilized to analyze accident patterns and improve road safety on state and local roads, provided the necessary data is available.

To strengthen the ecosystem of the construction sector, the conference discussed the need for professionalism, skill development, and improved supervision. The Secretary stressed the importance of targeted skill development for construction workers and the need to strengthen the selection and performance evaluation processes for DPR consultants, authority engineers, and independent engineers to ensure better project outcomes.

Additionally, the potential for adopting innovative contracts and financing mechanisms—such as Model Concession Agreements, Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), and annuity-based models—for the development of state highways and expressways was considered. Mr. Umashankar called upon the states to organize their own Chintan Shivirs and workshops to ensure that successful practices are adopted on a wider scale through expert guidance.

During the two-day conference, sessions were conducted on critical topics including PM GatiShakti, integrated infrastructure planning, land acquisition, safe highway design, green highways, road safety, toll reforms, and project monitoring. Through these sessions, a dialogue was established between the Center and the states to identify practical solutions to implementation challenges.