CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) organized a one-day national workshop on Road Asset Management Systems and Predictive Analysis on August 24, 2026, at the CSIR-CRRI Auditorium in New Delhi. The workshop was conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Education under the Scheme for Promotion of Academic and Research Collaboration (SPARC), bringing together researchers, practitioners, and industry experts to deliberate on modern Road Asset Management Systems (RAMS) and the application of predictive analytics for pavement performance, maintenance prioritization, and life-cycle cost optimization.
The inaugural session featured Shri Rajesh Verma, IAS, Chairperson of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR and Adjoining Areas, as the Chief Guest. The program included addresses by Dr. Ch. Ravi Sekhar (Director, CSIR-CRRI), Dr. Sampath Kumar Pasupunuri (Scientist 'E' and Workshop Coordinator), Prof. Manoranjan Parida (Professor, IIT Roorkee), and Prof. Rabibrata Mukherjee (National Coordinator, SPARC).
A key technical highlight was the demonstration of the Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) Tool for Indian Roads presented by Prof. Kranthi Kumar Kuna and Sh. Soumyarup Biswas, providing participants with practical understanding of life-cycle cost considerations in road infrastructure decision-making. The technical program featured keynote lectures by Prof. Manoranjan Parida and Dr. N. C. Pal, followed by sessions covering road asset management in practice, case studies, implementation challenges, industry perspectives, technologies for road asset management, data acquisition, and whole-life costing for road networks.
The workshop concluded with a panel discussion titled "From Pilot to Practice: What Will It Take to Make RAMS a Routine Part of Road Agency Decision-Making?" featuring experts from academia, government, and industry including Sh. L. P. Padhy, Prof. S. S. Mohapatra, Prof. Amit Goel, Prof. Nikhil Sabu, Sh. Sunil Jain, and Prof. A. K. Singh. The event emphasized the importance of integrating asset management, predictive analytics, data acquisition, and whole-life costing into road infrastructure planning and management, providing a platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration among stakeholders.