Tracking India's Infrastructure: Beyond Inauguration Ceremonies
India is in the midst of its largest infrastructure push in history. The National Infrastructure Pipeline targets Rs 111 lakh crore in investment by 2025. The Bharatmala programme aims to build 83,000 km of highways. Metro rail networks are under construction in over 20 cities. The Dedicated Freight Corridors, Vande Bharat trains, UDAN regional airports, and Smart Cities Mission are reshaping the physical landscape of the country. These projects affect every Indian — commute times, property values, economic development, and quality of life.
Yet infrastructure journalism in India is overwhelmingly focused on two moments: the announcement and the inauguration. What happens between those two events — the delays, cost overruns, land acquisition disputes, environmental clearance challenges, and design modifications — receives far less attention. A highway project announced with great fanfare may take twice as long and cost three times as much as originally projected, but the original promise and the final ribbon-cutting get more coverage than the years of struggle in between.
The Numbers Problem
Infrastructure reporting is plagued by conflicting statistics. The government reports highway construction in kilometres per day. Opposition and independent analysts question whether these numbers include re-laid roads, upgrades of existing roads, or only genuinely new construction. Metro ridership figures are presented as successes by operating agencies and as failures by critics who compare them to projected ridership. Without comparing how different outlets report the same data, readers cannot form an accurate picture of actual progress.
Regional bias further distorts the picture. National media disproportionately covers infrastructure projects in Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, and Bangalore. A Rs 30,000 crore expressway in Uttar Pradesh gets extensive coverage while an equally significant port development in Odisha or a railway line in the Northeast receives a fraction of the attention.
What This Feed Covers
- Highways and expressways: Bharatmala, state highway projects, completion status
- Railways: Vande Bharat, dedicated freight corridors, station redevelopment
- Urban transit: Metro rail across 20+ cities, BRT, urban infrastructure
- Airports and ports: Greenfield airports, Sagarmala port development, UDAN routes
- Smart Cities and urban development: Progress tracking, fund utilisation, outcomes
By aggregating infrastructure coverage from national media, regional outlets, industry publications, and government sources, this feed gives you the complete project lifecycle — not just the beginning and end.
