Highway construction slows to 19.44 km per day during April-September: Data

The pace of national highway construction in the country has slowed to 19.44 kilometres per day during the first six months of the current financial year, according to official data.

While the pace of National Highway (NH) construction in the country had touched a record 37 kilometres per day in 2020-21, it had slowed to 28.64 kilometres a day in 2021-22 due to pandemic-related disruptions and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country.

"The ministry has constructed 3,559 KMs of National Highways up to september in 2022-23 as compared to 3,824 KMs constructed up to september in 2021-22," the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in its monthly summary for the Cabinet for September 2022.

According to the ministry data, the award figure is 4,092 kilometres during April-September this year, as compared to 4,609 kilometres in the corresponding period a year ago.

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways across the country.

The official target of highway construction has been kept at 12,000 kilometres for the current financial year.

The ministry had constructed 10,237 kilometres in 2019-20, 13,327 kilometres in 2020-21 and 10,457 kilometres in 2021-22.