Upcoming swanky highways to have same speed limits as now

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national highways and 60kmph for urban roads. However, the Madras High Court quashed the order in 2021, stating these speeds were too high. The matter is now in the Supreme Court.

“The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has internally decided to keep speed limits on highways at the levels decided in 2018 to give more time for highway driving to get mature and disciplined," one of the two people cited above said on the condition of anonymity. “The proposed speed limits are still among the best globally and are considered sufficient for ensuring logistics efficiency, as it would double the average speed of truck movement on highways from the present 40kmph to 80kmph," he added. A query sent to a road ministry spokesperson remained unanswered till press time.

The Motor Vehicles Act empowers MoRTH to set speed limits across the country; however, the subject falls in the concurrent list, meaning states also get to decide on the matter. The ministry had notified the 2018 speed limits after a study by an expert group and after inspecting the road infrastructure and improved vehicle engineering. The new access-controlled highways were also tested for speeds of 140-160kmph.

There were also some discussions at the time to raise the limit on expressways further to 140kmph. Though the quality of roads and vehicles has improved since 2018, the government wants to move cautiously on speed limits, given the high incidence of road accidents in the country, which also sees the highest number of road deaths worldwide. It is expected that the Centre will talk to states in the coming days before framing speed norms in line with its 2018 notification.