Official data reveals that the pace of national highway construction in India averaged 20.78 kilometers per day during the first seven months of the current financial year. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has outlined plans to sustain this momentum, targeting the construction of 12,500 kilometers of highways in the fiscal year 2023-24.
The data indicates that the award figure for projects reached 2,595 kilometers during this period, a decrease from 5,007 kilometers awarded in the same period the previous year. However, the ministry has successfully constructed 4,474 kilometers of national highways up to October in the fiscal year 2023-24, surpassing the 4,060 kilometers constructed by the same time in the previous fiscal year.
Providing context, MoRTH reported that in the 2019-20 financial year, 10,237 kilometers of national highways were constructed, followed by 13,327 kilometers in 2020-21 and 10,457 kilometers in 2021-22.
The ministry emphasized the need for prompt decision-making on the approval of the revised Bharatmala Phase-1 or an alternative program to meet the annual award target. Bharatmala Pariyojana, India’s largest highway infrastructure initiative, aims to develop 34,800 kilometers of national highway corridors at an investment of Rs 5.35 lakh crore. The first phase encompasses the development of approximately 24,800 kilometers of the national highway network, covering economic corridors, inter-corridor and feeder roads, efficiency improvements for national corridors, border and international connectivity roads, coastal and port connectivity roads, expressways, and 10,000 kilometers of roads under the National Highway Development Project (NHDP). Any shortfall in awards this year could impact progress in highway construction for the fiscal year 2024-25, according to MoRTH.