MoRTH confident of achieving highway construction target

According to MoRTH secretary Alka Upadhyaya, the Ministry of Road Transport and Roadways (MoRTH) is optimistic that it will complete 12,000 kilometres of new highways during the current fiscal year. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), according to Upadhyaya, has already earned almost 28,500 million through. Phases 2 and 3 of the Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIT) mode are advanced in order to achieve the target by the conclusion of the current fiscal year. The extended monsoon has slowed down the development of the National Highway. She told PTI in an interview that although, the pace of building has risen, and we are confident that the set targets shall be met by March 2023. As of November 2022–2023, the ministry had built 4,766 km of national highways as opposed to 5,1.18 km up until that point. 5,382 km have been awarded through November 2022–2023 as opposed to 5,578 km last year. In 2019–20, 10,237 km; in 2020–21, 13,327 km; and in 2021–22, 10,457 km were built by the ministry. Upadhyaya stated that the NHAI would prioritise awarding new projects in 2023 and expedite construction to complete the ones that had already been awarded. To reach the asset monetisation target of 230,000 million this year, she added, NHAI will pursue asset monetisation through several modalities, including toll-operate-transfer (TOT) model and InvIT. When questioned about whether the ministry will be able to use funding designated for the road sector, According to Upadhyaya, the government has accelerated investment and will make use of all funds designated for the roads sector. We are on schedule for that investment, and we have asked the Ministry of Finance for a bigger budget to keep up with our investment pace, she said. Concerned about NHAI's high debt level, Upadhyaya responded that the organization's debt is at a self-sustaining level and that, thanks to an increase in budgetary allocation, NHAI is in a good position to service its debt.