Highway Construction: NHAI sets target for 4,600 km in FY22

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has set a target to build new highways with a combined length of 4,600 km in the current fiscal year, despite the pandemic still wreaking havoc on the nation and its economy. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has a vigorous stream of funds, including borrowings, budgetary outlays, and the funds realised through the toll-operate-transfer (TOT) route. NHAI believes that they could meet the target if they rely on EPC projects and HAM projects, though the current target seems too high. S S Sandhu, the Chairman of NHAI, told the media that the authority was confident in achieving the target that has been set for the current fiscal year, as there has been a bit of impact on highway construction lately owing to a pandemic-induced labour shortage in some sites. Of the total projects taken in 2020-21, two were on Build-Operate-Transfer (Toll) for a length of 132 km, seventy projects for a length of 2,047 km are on Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) model and the remaining sixty-nine projects for a length of 2,609 km were on Hybrid Annuity Model (HAM). One forty-one projects were awarded by NHAI for a length of 4,788 km in 2020-21. Compared to 3,211 km in 2019-20 and 2,222 km in 2018-19, the length awarded in 2020-21 was the highest in the last three years. NHAI told the media earlier that it hopes to award projects worth around Rs 2.25 lakh crores in the current fiscal year. The capital costs of the projects taken up in 2018-19 and 2019-20 were Rs 64,009 crores and Rs 81,324 crores, respectively. The capital cost of the projects taken in 2020-21 accounts for Rs 1,71,226 crores. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways informed the media that they hope that the construction would touch 40 km per day in 2021-22 from 36.4 km per day in 2020-21. All the executives, including the NHAI, constructed a record of 13,298 km highways in 2020-21, up from 10,237 km in 2019-20. Image Source Also read: Govt sets two year road construction target worth Rs 15 lakh cr Also read: Nitin Gadkari: India made world record for fastest road construction