The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will organise the Chintan Shivir 2026 on October 5 and 6 at Ekta Nagar in Gujarat’s Narmada district to deliberate on key issues related to the development and delivery of highway infrastructure across the country.
The two-day conclave will bring together senior representatives from the Centre, state governments and implementing agencies to discuss challenges in highway project execution and identify practical approaches for improving project delivery, quality, safety and efficiency.
The inaugural session on October 5 will be addressed by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, along with Ministers of State Ajay Tamta and Harsh Malhotra. Road Transport and Public Works Ministers from various states, senior officials from State Public Works Departments, implementing agencies and other stakeholders have also been invited to participate.
The Chintan Shivir is intended to strengthen coordination between the Centre and states while providing a platform for sharing field-level experiences, best practices and practical solutions. The discussions will also examine innovative and replicable approaches as well as policy and institutional interventions for highway development.
Five thematic sessions have been planned during the conclave. These will cover PM GatiShakti and integrated infrastructure planning, Land Acquisition and Bhoomi Rashi, Model Concession Agreements and Ratings, Designing Safe Highways, and Quality Assurance and Project Monitoring.
The session on PM GatiShakti will focus on coordinated and integrated planning for infrastructure development. Discussions on Land Acquisition and Bhoomi Rashi will examine issues affecting project implementation and ways to facilitate smoother execution of highway projects.
The Model Concession Agreements and Ratings session will look at contractual and implementation-related aspects of highway projects. The Designing Safe Highways session will focus on incorporating road safety considerations into highway planning and development.
Quality Assurance and Project Monitoring will form the fifth thematic area, with discussions centred on strengthening quality control, monitoring mechanisms and project outcomes.
The ministry has positioned the Chintan Shivir as an outcome-oriented platform aimed at generating actionable solutions rather than limiting discussions to policy deliberations. The exercise is expected to strengthen Centre-State cooperation and contribute to the development of safer, higher-quality and future-ready highway infrastructure.
The conclave comes shortly after NHAI issued new guidelines for the planning and design of high-speed, access-controlled national highways, covering areas such as future traffic assessment, landscaping, environmental measures, drainage and water management.