Context: Recently, the Government of India and the World Bank signed a $500 million project to build safe and green national highway corridors in the states of Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
Green Highways

• A green highway is a roadway constructed that integrates transportation functionality and ecological sustainability.
• An environmental approach is used throughout the planning, design, and the construction.
• The Union Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and Shipping launched the Green Highways (Plantation, Transplantation, Beautification & Maintenance) Policy in 2015.

Objective: To promote greening of Highway corridors with participation of the community, farmers, private sector, NGOs, and government institutions.

• 1% of the total project cost of all highways projects is kept aside for the highway plantation and its maintenance.

Green National Highways Corridor Project

• It was launched by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways in collaboration with International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD).
• Under the project, stretches of several national highways across Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh will be strengthened.

Objective: To construct 783 km of highways in various geographies by integrating safe and green technology designs such as local and marginal materials, industrial byproducts, and other bioengineering solutions.
Significance of the Project

• Reduce GHG emissions in the construction and maintenance of highways.
• Strengthen and widen existing structures; construct new pavements, drainage facilities and bypasses; improve junctions; and introduce road safety features.
• Support analytics to map the freight volume and movement pattern on the National Highway network, identify constraints, and provide innovative logistics solutions.
• Support the ministry with analysis of gender-related issues in the transport sector along with help in creating jobs for women by training women-led micro enterprises to implement green technologies in the highway corridors.

World Bank

• The World Bank is an international financial institution established in 1944 by the Bretton Woods Agreement.

Objective

• To provide loans and grants to the governments of low and middle income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects.
• The World Bank's most recently stated goal is the Reduction of Poverty.
• It is a component of the World Bank Group.

The World Bank Group is an extended family of five international organizations:

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Development Association (IDA)
• International Finance Corporation (IFC)
• Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID)

The World Bank is a collective name given to the following two institutions

• International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD)
• International Development Association (IDA)

Reports published by the World Bank

• Global Economic Prospects Report
• World Development Report
• Ease of Doing Business Report