The Government is planning to increase the country’s highway construction target for the current fiscal year,which may now be pegged higher at around 14,000 km, up from 12,500 km set at the start of the year.
India's Road Construction
The minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari, mentioned at a press conference listing out achievements of his ministry during the nine years of the Narendra Modi government, “The pace of highway construction has gone up from 11.6 Km per day (during the UPA regime) to 30 Km per day now. We are trying to further increase it.”
The highway construction rate reached its highest level to date in the pandemic years of 2020–21, reaching a high of 37 km per day. He said that year saw the construction of 13,327 km of highways. The goal for the current fiscal year is to raise the target to a similar level (38 km/day).
Highway stretches totaling 10,331 km (28 km/day) were built in the previous year. Since the pure-play BOT model has not yet gained currency, the highway agencies primarily use the EPC and hybrid annuity models to construct new highways.
Targets For The Current Year
As per Anurag Jain, secretary in the Ministry, the National Highways Authority of India's (NHAI) targets could be increased to 6,000 km, the ministry's roads division could contribute an additional 6,000 km, and the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation (NHIDCL) would complete 1,500–2,000 km. He stated that discussions about new targets are still ongoing and nearly complete.
An official claims that numerous highway sections are nearing completion but are stalled for a variety of reasons. The goals for this year may include these stretches. When establishing goals and tracking progress, the ministry only considers projects that have been completed. Some estimates place the length of these stretches at 1,500-2,000 km.
As of February 2023, 1,486 National Highways projects were in various stages of construction under different implementing agencies. These projects totaled about 38,000 km in length and cost about Rs 8.24 trillion.
Road Agencies Under Work
The primary highway builder in the nation, NHAI, had earlier set a goal of 5,060 km of new highway this year, up from 4,882 km in 2022–2023. The NHAI and NHIDCL carry out projects for the road wing under agency basis with the public works departments of the states and Union territories. The mission of NHIDCL is to build highways in the North East and strategic areas of the country along international borders.
The ministry's road wing oversees projects such as expressways, six-laning of congested stretches of the Golden Quadrilateral, and two-laning of highways under National Highway Development Projects. It also works on a special program to improve road connectivity in naxalite-affected areas and to provide last-mile connectivity.
According to Gadkari, the country's road network has grown by 59% in the past nine years, from 91,287 km to 1.45 lakh km.
According to him, toll revenue increased during that time from Rs 4,770 crore to Rs 41,342 crore. The earnings include funds obtained through asset monetisation. “Total earnings from highways (toll and asset monetisation) would reach Rs 1.3 trillion before 2030,” Gadkari predicted.
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