28. The National Highway Development Programme (NHDP) represents a new road vision for this country. Its unprecedented scale is symbolic of government’s earnestness to provide connectivity and mobility of an altogether different order. The key to government’s success in accelerating the road development programme lies in its bold policy of levying a cess on petrol and diesel as a user charge for road usage. Resources for Phase I, to be completed by December 2003, have already been tied up. Work has already been awarded for more than 1500 Kms. of the golden quadrilateral in addition to the completed sections totalling 600 Kms. The balance portion is expected to be awarded by the middle of this year.