Pace of road construction less than half that of 2018-19: Economic Survey

Per-day construction drops from 29.7 km in FY19 to 12.7 km in first six months of current fiscal

Stressing the importance of good roads and transport for growth, the Economic Survey 2019-20 pointed out that the per day construction, that had improved in the last few years, less than halved in the first six months of the current fiscal.

The pace at which roads have been constructed grew significantly from 17 km per day in 2015-16 to 29.7 km in 2018-19. However, the pace seems to have moderated in 2019-20 to 12.7 km per day till September 2019.

Road transport is the dominant mode of transportation in terms of its contribution to Gross Value Added (GVA) and traffic share.

The share of the transport sector in the GVA for 2017-18 was about 4.77 per cent, of which the share of road transport is the largest at 3.06 per cent, followed by that of Railways (0.75 per cent), air transport (0.15 per cent) and water transport (0.06 per cent).

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Similarly, as per the National Transport Development Policy Committee Report, as of 2011-12, road transport is estimated to handle 69 per cent and 90 per cent of the countrywide freight and passenger traffic, respectively.

A good road network is an essential requirement for the rapid growth of the economy, Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian said in the survey.

Roads shouldn't be looked at in isolation, but as part of an integrated multi-modal transport system that provides crucial links with airports, railway stations, ports and other logistical hubs.

As on March 31,2018, India had a road network of about 5.96 million km. The total length of National Highways was 132,000 km as on March 1, 2019.