Highway construction slows to 20.43 km/day in Apr-Jul period

The pace of national highway (NH) construction in the country has slowed to 20.43 km a day during the first four months of the current financial year, according to official data. While the pace had touched a record 37 km per day in 2020-21, it slowed to 28.64 km a day in 2021-22 due to COVID-19 pandemic-related disruptions and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country. The ministry has constructed 2,493 km of National Highways up to July in 2022-23, as compared to 2,927 km constructed up to July 2021-22, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said in its monthly summary for the Cabinet for July 2022. According to the ministry data, only 1,975 km of road projects were awarded between April-July in 2022, compared to 2,434 km of road projects awarded in the year-ago period. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways across the country. The official target of highway construction has been kept at 12,000 km for the current financial year. The ministry had constructed 10,237 km in 2019-20, 13,327 km in 2020-21 and 10,457 km in 2021-22. See also: How new HAM criteria puts all on equal footingNHAI to begin work on elevated highway in Chennai Port