The minister further said that this is equivalent to the CO2 sequestration by 31,826 million trees, while responding to a question raised by three lawmakers regarding the government’s research on monitoring the environmental footprint of greenhouse gases from national highways.
The figures presented by Gadkari were based on a 2023 study conducted by the Central Road Research Institute, Indian Institute of Petroleum, IORA Ecological Solutions, and TERI, which analysed data from five greenfield and 15 brownfield stretches totaling 2,191.5 km across various climatic and topographic zones.
The study concluded that the construction of these 20 stretches resulted in an emission of 5,716,660 tonnes of CO2, while maintenance caused an additional 1,164,680 tonnes of CO2 emissions. Furthermore, tree felling, including in forests, contributed to an emission of 652,600 tonnes of CO2.
The report calculated the emissions savings by considering the reduction in fuel consumption due to improved roads, the sequestration potential of avenue plantations, and compensatory afforestation.
The report estimated that, under improved conditions, total fuel consumption over a 20-year period would be approximately 41.16 billion liters, compared to 50.96 billion liters under current conditions, reflecting a 19% improvement. Among the total fuel savings, petrol would account for about 7%, with the remaining share attributed to diesel. The major savings would come from medium commercial vehicles (53%) and heavy commercial vehicles (23%).
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The study also estimated that avenue plantations and compensatory afforestation (CA) conducted after the highways’ construction could sequester 584.27 thousand tonnes of CO2 over 20 years.
Adding to his reply, Gadkari said that the ministry is also building a 781 km of Green National Highway Corridors project spanning across states of Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, with loan assistance of US $ 500 million against total project cost of US $ 1288.24 million ( ₹7,662.47 crore).
The entire project is slated to be completed by May 2026. Under this initiative, highways will be built using less carbon-intensive materials or reused materials such as lime, fly ash, waste plastic and bio- engineering measures for slope protection such as hydroseeding, coco and jute fibre.
