A World Bank-backed Sustainable Road Safety Financing Project has been approved to support road safety action plans across four Indian states: Rajasthan, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam. The project provides financing and institutional capacity support to help these states develop and implement evidence-based road safety strategies aimed at significantly reducing road accident fatalities and injuries.
India has one of the highest road accident fatality rates in the world. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, India records over 1.5 lakh road accident deaths annually. The World Bank's intervention targets systemic improvements in road safety governance, engineering, enforcement, and emergency medical response — often referred to as the "5 Es" or "Safe System" approach.
For Rajasthan specifically, the project supports the development of a comprehensive Road Safety Action Plan. Rajasthan faces unique challenges owing to its vast road network spanning desert terrain, high inter-state traffic through national highways (including NH-48 and NH-58), and a significant proportion of two-wheeler traffic in rural areas.
The project aligns with India's National Road Safety Policy and the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021–2030, which aims to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries by at least 50% by 2030. The World Bank financing covers capacity building for state road safety authorities, data collection and crash analysis systems, black spot remediation, and improvements to emergency response infrastructure.
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Assam are co-beneficiaries. The inclusion of states from different regions (south, northeast, and northwest India) suggests a national model approach that could be replicated across other states if successful. The project represents an important governance and public health investment that goes beyond infrastructure and targets behavioural and institutional change.