It was 8 am when our taxi crossed the Delhi border into Noida. This is not a highway like any other – it has eight lanes, clear signage and advance warning of exits. The long smooth road snakes across the countryside of Uttar Pradesh, dotted with restaurants, small rural settlements, brick kilns and green agricultural fields.
As we drove from Delhi to Agra, we didn’t notice a single police car patrolling the highway. On our way back, perhaps as it was approaching nightfall, we passed just two police cars on the 168-km-long stretch and one silver Expressway vehicle.
