The ministry of road transport and highways has drawn up a plan to construct around 28,391 km of highways in 25 months at a daily average of around 38 km, starting from March.
Replying to a written question in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari said the ministry had envisaged to construct about 60,000 km of national highways from 2019-20 to 2023-24. Of the target, 31,609 km has been constructed up to February this year at a daily average of a little over 30 km.
“The balance length of about 28,391 km is planned to be constructed in the remaining period from March 2022 to the end of the financial year 2023-24,” Gadkari said.
In 2019-20, all executing agencies, including the National Highways Authority of India, constructed 10,237 km of highways, which went up to a record high of 13,327 km in the next fiscal. During the April-February period of the current fiscal, the pace has slowed down a bit due to protracted rains and the pandemic-induced restrictions on movement.
It generally takes two-three years for completion of a highway project from the date of award.
To a separate question, Gadkari replied that 553 national highways projects with a total length of 10,964 km have been awarded during 2020-21. Expenditure incurred on ongoing works during 2020-21 was at Rs 1.53 trillion.
