New national highway project awards rebound after year-long slump

Focus on HAM and BOT with Rs 8000 crore projects awarded in January

Awarding of new national highway building contracts has picked up pace with the government giving 1104-kilometre of contracts in January this year, which was one fourth of the total contracts given during the ongoing financial year 2025 (FY25) so far.

 

This figure is three times the contract awarding volume achieved in January 2024, and twice the number achieved in December 2024, signalling a revival in highway awards.

 

So far in FY25, the ministry has awarded 4,204-km of national highway projects.

 

Road awards had taken a significant hit in 2023 and 2024 after the government’s flagship highway programme, Bharatmala, ran into a bureaucratic dead end after the 34,800-km project’s estimated cost doubled to ₹11 trillion, triggering a complete halt in sanctioning of these projects.

 

In its monthly summary for the Union cabinet, the highways ministry said that highway construction figures during the financial year are down by 8.5 per cent compared to last year at 7,000 km. 

 

Officials said that the ministry will continue to focus on execution of currently awarded projects, with the government looking to focus on enhancing the quality and capacity of existing highways.

 

While new projects will continue to be awarded across various modes, the pace may not be the same as the past few years, when the Centre managed to break construction and awarding records.

 

According to budget documents, the government has set itself a target of 10,000 km of highway construction for FY26, which, if achieved, will be its lowest in seven years.

 

The government is also shifting its focus to reviving the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) mode, where it awarded the first project in three years in February, the ₹5200 crore Guwahati Ring Road.

 

“₹8,006 value of HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model)/BOT projects have been awarded during the month. Cumulative value for HAM/BOT projects awarded for the FY 2024-25 up to January, 2025 is ₹19,467 crore,” the ministry said.

 

Moreover, the ministry till January has incurred capital expenditure of ₹2.3 trillion, it said.