Union Minister of State (Independent Tax) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said on Monday (May 10) that India now has world-class local technology for road and highway construction.

The Minister spoke about a program to provide the public with two state-of-the-art value-added facilities for road construction and motorways developed by the CSIR Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

Singh added that many sectoral ministries are not fully familiar with the technologies offered in their sector, so he initiated a process where researchers from different disciplines sit separately with representatives of the ministries in each sector to explain to them. How they can make the best use of the technology available is in a statement from the Ministry of Science and Technology on Monday.

Singh, along with Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and MoS General (retired) VK Singh, released a mobile cold mixer Cum Paver for building a black top coat using bituminous emulsion and a Patch Fill Machine for pit repairs on the road.

Singh argued that the increasing application of science and technology in the road transport and highways sector provides significant added value to India’s development journey.

He said the use of affordable, sustainable and recyclable technologies in the road and highway sector is rapidly creating a network of arteries in India.

The minister said India was taking the lead and marching fast to overtake many developing countries in cutting-edge technology, and reiterated that India’s rise in the coming decades would be driven by science, technology and innovation.

Speaking about the two Mobile Cold Mixer Cum Pavers for building a black top coat using bituminous emulsion and the Patch Fill Machine for repairing pits for the nation, Singh said these are great examples of Atmanirbhar Bharat, as both equipment is completely made on site.

The minister said the Cold Mixer and Patch Fill Machine would play an important role in building roads and highways in the hilly states of India, especially in the northeastern region.

Singh said CSIR is known for its cutting-edge research and development knowledge base in a variety of science and technology fields.

He added that the Ministry of Road Transport and other CSIR laboratories should join forces to improve technological intervention in various other sectors, such as tunneling, alternative fuels, electronics (RFID tags, etc.), hydrocarbon binders, as well as geopolymers, roads. Side plantation, environmental impact studies, machinery and equipment, etc.

The Minister said that the main CSIR-CRRI R&D programs cover the entire spectrum of road and road transport, including bridges, road safety, the road environment, and more.