The Nagpur Plan achieved its length target. And yet, when engineers looked at the network in 1961, they found it still did not do what the country needed.
That gap between hitting the target and solving the problem is what the Bombay Plan set out to address. This post covers why a second plan was needed, its targets, and the two ideas it introduced that were genuinely new.
Why a Second Plan Was Needed
By the end of the Nagpur Plan, the length of roads envisaged under it was achieved, but the road system was deficient in many respects. The changed economic, industrial and agricultural conditions in the country during that period called for a review.
Read that carefully, because it contains a genuine lesson. The plan met its own target and the network was still inadequate — which means the target itself had been the wrong measure.
Two things had happened. First, twenty years of economic, industrial and agricultural change had altered where traffic needed to go. Second, the Nagpur Plan had counted kilometres, and kilometres say nothing about whether a road is surfaced, wide enough, or in the right place.
Who Drafted It
A second long term plan, again for 20 years, was drafted by the Roads Wing of the Government of India. It is popularly known as the Bombay Plan, and it covered 1961 to 1981.
Note the change in authorship. The Nagpur Plan came out of a conference of Provincial Chief Engineers. The Bombay Plan was drafted by a permanent central government wing — a sign that road planning had become established administrative machinery rather than an occasional gathering.
The Targets
Total Road Length
Total road length targeted: about 10 lakh kilometres
Road Density
Road density: 32 km per 100 sq. km
This is exactly double the Nagpur figure of 16 — a clean doubling that is easy to remember and frequently asked.
Surfaced Proportion
40 percent of the total length would be surfaced
Here is the direct response to the Nagpur Plan’s weakness. Rather than counting length alone, the Bombay Plan specified how much of that length must actually be surfaced. It is the first Indian road plan to set a quality target alongside a quantity target.
Expressways
Construction of 1,600 km of expressways was included in the plan
This is the first appearance of expressways in Indian road planning — a road class above National Highways, built for high speed with controlled access. The number is modest against a 10 lakh km total, but its significance is that the category now existed at all.
A New Approach to Financing
The Bombay Plan’s most original contribution is an idea about who should pay.
Funds for highway financing should come not only from direct beneficiaries — motor vehicles — but also from those on whom indirect benefits accrue.
Why This Was a New Idea
The Jayakar Committee’s approach had been simple: tax the vehicles, because vehicles use the roads. That produced the Central Road Fund in 1929.
The Bombay Plan pointed out that vehicle owners are not the only ones who gain. When a new highway is built past a piece of agricultural land, that land becomes more valuable — the owner benefits substantially without ever driving on the road. A shop on a newly connected route gets more customers. These are indirect beneficiaries, and the plan argued that they too should contribute.
Sources Which May Be Tapped
| Source | What It Captures |
|---|---|
| Betterment levy | The increase in property value caused by the new road |
| Cess on land revenue | A charge added to existing land revenue collection |
| Toll projects | Direct payment by those who actually use the road |
| Tax on diesel oil used for motor vehicles | Fuel-based contribution from commercial traffic |
The betterment levy is the cleanest expression of the principle. If a road adds value to your land, part of that added value returns to the public purse that created it.
Two Administrative Recommendations
Authority to Remove Encroachments
The plan stated that the question of vesting authority with road engineers to remove encroachments needed to be examined.
This connects directly to the building line and control line concepts studied in geometric design. Those lines exist to keep a corridor free for future widening — but a line on a drawing achieves nothing if nobody has the legal power to clear what is built across it. The plan recognised that engineers needed enforcement authority, not just plans.
Traffic Engineering Cells in Each State
Traffic engineering cells should be established in each State.
This marks a shift in what road organisations were expected to do. Building roads and operating them are different skills — the first is construction, the second is the traffic studies, signal design, capacity analysis and safety work covered in the traffic engineering chapter. Dedicated cells meant each state would have people whose job was the second.
Nagpur and Bombay Compared
| Nagpur Plan | Bombay Plan | |
|---|---|---|
| Period | 1943–63 | 1961–81 |
| Drawn up by | Conference of Chief Engineers of the Provinces | Roads Wing, Government of India |
| Total length target | 2 lakh km | 10 lakh km |
| Road density | 16 km per 100 sq. km | 32 km per 100 sq. km |
| Surfaced target | Not specified as a proportion | 40 percent |
| Expressways | None | 1,600 km |
| Financing | From motor vehicles (CRF) | Also from indirect beneficiaries |
The pattern is a fivefold increase in length, a doubling of density, and — more importantly — the first attempt to measure quality rather than only quantity.
Quick Revision Notes
- The Nagpur Plan’s length target was achieved, but the system remained deficient in many respects.
- Changed economic, industrial and agricultural conditions required a review.
- Drafted by the Roads Wing of the Government of India; covered 1961 to 1981.
- Target: about 10 lakh km.
- Road density: 32 km per 100 sq. km — double the Nagpur figure.
- 40 percent of the length to be surfaced.
- 1,600 km of expressways included — the first appearance of expressways in Indian road planning.
- Financing should come from indirect beneficiaries as well as motor vehicles.
- Sources: betterment levy, cess on land revenue, toll projects, tax on diesel oil.
- Authority for road engineers to remove encroachments to be examined.
- Traffic engineering cells to be established in each State.
Mistakes Students Commonly Make
- Confusing the density figures. Nagpur 16, Bombay 32, Lucknow 82.
- Confusing the length targets. Nagpur 2 lakh, Bombay 10 lakh, Lucknow 27 lakh km.
- Saying the Nagpur Plan failed. It met its length target — the deficiency was in other respects.
- Attributing the 1,600 km expressway proposal to the Lucknow Plan. It is Bombay.
- Forgetting that 40 percent surfaced is a Bombay Plan figure.
- Omitting one of the four financing sources, most often the cess on land revenue.
- Assuming the Bombay Plan was drafted at a conference. It came from the Roads Wing of the central government.
Conclusion
The Bombay Plan is the point at which Indian road planning grew more sophisticated. It accepted that the previous plan had hit its number and still not delivered a good network, and responded by adding a surfacing target, introducing expressways, and rethinking who should pay for roads. That last idea — that people who benefit indirectly from a road should contribute to it through betterment levies and land cesses — is arguably the most forward-looking proposal in the whole chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was the Bombay Plan needed?
Because although the Nagpur Plan’s road length target was achieved, the road system remained deficient in many respects, and changed economic, industrial and agricultural conditions required a review.
Who drafted the Bombay Plan?
The Roads Wing of the Government of India.
What period did the Bombay Plan cover?
1961 to 1981, a twenty year plan.
What was the total road length target?
About 10 lakh kilometres.
What road density did the Bombay Plan aim for?
32 km per 100 square kilometres, twice the Nagpur Plan figure.
What proportion of the road length was to be surfaced?
40 percent.
How much expressway construction was included?
1,600 km, the first time expressways appeared in an Indian road development plan.
What new approach to financing did the plan propose?
That funds should come not only from direct beneficiaries such as motor vehicles, but also from those receiving indirect benefits.
What financing sources were suggested?
Betterment levy, cess on land revenue, toll projects, and tax on diesel oil used for motor vehicles.
What is a betterment levy?
A charge that captures part of the increase in property value created by a new road, collected from owners who benefit without necessarily using the road themselves.
What administrative recommendations did the plan make?
That the question of vesting authority with road engineers to remove encroachments should be examined, and that traffic engineering cells should be established in each State.