Table of Contents
National Highway Construction Progress
- Record pace in FY21: The government constructed a record 13,327 km of National Highway Construction in FY2021 at a rate of 37 km per day.
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- This happened because road contractors got enough time to organize their work, aided by reduced road traffic due to lockdown conditions.
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- Gradual decline:
- In FY22, the National Highway Construction fell over 20% to 10,457 km or just 29 km per day.
- In FY23, National Highway Construction slowed further, with the pace falling 13% in the April-August period to just 19 km per day.
- Reasons for National Highway Construction decline: According to road ministry officials, the major reasons for the slow progress are delays in land acquisition and the jump in land prices. COVID and the extended monsoon in FY22 dampened National Highway Construction, and may hurt this year as well.
National Highway Construction: India’s Target for Building Highways
- India aims to have a 200,000-km National Highway Construction network by FY25. In FY23, the government has set a target of building 12,000 km of highways at a pace of 60 km per day.
- The target includes 34,800 km of Bharatamala highways to improve connectivity of national highways as well.
- In her FY23 budget speech, finance minister pledged to add 25,000 km to the National Highway Construction net-work in FY23. This, however, includes new construction, widening works, and converting state highways into National Highway Construction.
Highway Construction: Government Initiatives
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