Govt plans parking, ATMs along highways

While the Villages will be set up on five hectares of land, Nests will be on two hectares. The process to invite bids to develop 183 such spaces along highways will start on Friday and conclude by September-October.

Amenities such as parking, refreshments, restrooms, lodging and ATMs will soon be available every 50 km along national highways. Around 1,000 “Highway Villages” and smaller “Highway Nests” have been envisaged across the country, with Centre-approved standards of services to be set up by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) as well as private players.

While the Villages will be set up on five hectares of land, Nests will be on two hectares. The process to invite bids to develop 183 such spaces along highways will start on Friday and conclude by September-October.

The wayside amenities aim to provide safe and affordable pit-stops for highway travellers, similar to those in Western countries. “Recognising the lack of wayside amenities along highways, as we see in Europe and the US, we have decided to provide wayside amenities every 50 km along national highways. They will be developed with private participation,” Road Transport, Highways and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said at an event to unveil the logo of Highway Village and Highway Nest here.

The government will provide free road access permission to the facilities, and facilitate setting up of oil and gas outlets. Around 80 per cent of the space will be for parking, and the rest for structures for other amenities, an official said.

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