Akhilesh Srivastava to Speak at the Annual Roads and Highways Meet

1. Akhilesh Srivastava to Speak at the Annual Roads and Highways Meet Mr Akhilesh Srivastava, Chief General Manager (IT & Operations), NHAI, will be one of the distinguished speakers at the 4th Annual Roads and Highways Meet. This conference will take place at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Singapore. It is a “Marcus Evans” event and staged in collaboration with International Road Federation, Geneva, Switzerland. This conference will cover various discussions, case studies and key presentations from well-owned industry experts. Redefining road infrastructure is the main agenda and various governments across Asia have joined hands to participate in this grand event. Development of roads and highways has a direct impact on the overall growth of a country’s economy. Congestion is a major hurdle for commuters and it has only worsened in most cities across Asia. Expeditious development of road infrastructure can lay down technological benchmarks for other sectors. Keeping this in perspective, Mr Akhilesh Srivastava will speak about One Belt One Road Initiative (OBOR) and highway modernisation. OBOR is a development strategy put forward by Chinese Government with a firm focus on connecting and cooperating Eurasian countries. Various projects aimed at modernising Indian highways have been led by Mr Akhilesh Srivastava. These initiatives include some vital contributions such as the introduction of FASTags, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) based tags which are affixed to the windscreen of the vehicle to enable Electronic Toll Collection (ETC). ETC ensures a convenient travel for Indian commuters as they don’t have to stop at toll booths to pay their toll fees. It is getting deducted automatically from the commuters FASTag account. It is already operational at many of the toll booths in India now. Distance-based tolling is another project which is currently in the pilot phase on the Delhi-Mumbai corridor. If the pilot phase is successful, the current toll system could go out of the picture. This toll system charges commuters according to the distance they travel, unlike the current fixed toll system. The Chief General Manager(CGM) has also played a key part in the development of Wayside Amenities (WSAs) across the National Highways (NH) in India. The WSAs are being introduced to address the dire need for clean toilets, hygienic restaurants, dhabas, ATMs, vehicle repair shops, etc. This program will cover the entire length of Indian NH i.e. 96,000km. The development of amenities is divided into three categories depending upon feasibility and land availability. The work of CGM Mr Akhilesh Srivastava towards these initiatives has been meritorious, and being invited as a speaker at the 4-day conference, scheduled in April, comes as a no surprise. His experience and expertise in this field have guided the NHAI towards the pathway of success, and the conference will surely benefit from his insights on road infrastructure and development.