Top 10 states account for 80 pc of under-construction NH projects hit due to COVID-19: Report

Top 10 states including Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh account for 80 per cent of the under-construction national highway projects hit due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Crisil Research said on Friday.

Construction of national highways came to a grinding halt with the nationwide lockdown imposed on March 25 to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. However, to the relief of developers, the government allowed resumption of construction from April 20, subject to clearances from district administrations, it said.

But activity remains stalled due to severe shortage of labour and raw material, and difficulty in securing requisite clearances, it said in a statement.

"What's more, the Centre has divided districts into red, orange and green zones based on the extent of contagion. Only insitu construction is allowed in red zones until the next announcement. CRISIL Research's analysis of over 270 under-construction national highways indicates the Top 10 states account for 80 per cent of the projects," it said.

Projects are most at risk in four of these states -- Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh -- that account for over a third of the projects, it said.

In Maharashtra, which has 11 per cent of the national highway projects, as much as 55 per cent of them are in red zones, the statement said.

In Uttar Pradesh, which has the lion's share of projects under construction at 15 per cent, a third are in the red zones. Projects in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, each with over 35 per cent projects in red zones, are also at risk, it said.

In this milieu, for developers containment of the pandemic and lifting of the extended lockdown are the key monitorables for a return to normalcy, the statement said.