NHAI road awards at three-year low in first half of fiscal

17 Oct 2022 CW Team

The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) could award only 777 km of road projects in the first half of the current financial year (April-September), which is a three-year low, rating agency Crisil said. This is also a 60 per cent drop over the corresponding period last year.

The road building authority has floated tenders worth about 2,200 km so far this fiscal, which is 36 per cent higher than the corresponding first half of the last fiscal.

"Slackened pace of execution, and highly inflated prices of key input materials owing to uncertainties arising out of global geopolitical tensions, have acted as major impediments to contract awarding momentum," Crisil analysts said in a report released last week.

Considering the ramp-up that typically happens in the fourth quarter, awarding in the second half of the financial year is expected to improve substantially. Nonetheless, awarding for the full year is still likely to be moderate.

"We expect 4,800-5,200 km of awards this fiscal, much lower than the 6,306 km awarded last fiscal," the rating agency noted.

Of the 777 km awarded in the first half of this fiscal, hybrid annuity model (HAM) projects had a 51 per cent share, while engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) accounted for the rest.

"Sharp rise in commodity prices and complex project awards in difficult terrains warranted developers to seek a higher premium to maintain their margins," the report said.

Real Estate

30 Jul 2026

AI: The New Recruit

From getting ideas to evaluating designs, presenting concepts to clients and tracking projects, artificial intelligence (AI) is helping architects work better and faster.“AI allows architects to spend more time doing what only they can do: think critically, synthesise complexity and design with intent,” says Dikshu C Kukreja, Managing Principal, CP Kukreja Architects. “Every minute reclaimed from repetitive processes can be invested in creativity, contextual understanding, interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation – the qualities that define meaningful architecture.”To read the ..

Redevelopment 2.0

In 2017, Mumbai identified 160,000 ageing buildings due for structural audit. Close to half of these were in the Western Suburbs. Redeveloping the oldest and structurally weakest of these would help unlock new housing, much needed given the city’s growing population density and constant developed area of 437.7 sq km. At 30,600 people per sq km in 2024, Mumbai’s density was almost thrice that of Gurugram, and 60 per cent higher than Bengaluru’s.Essentially, Mumbai’s realty market has demand. It has capital. It has realty development potential.Fast forward to 2026. Mumbai has 1,094 regis..

Cost intelligence will become a strategic contributor to project success

As India's construction industry accelerates its digital transformation, integrated platforms, AI and connected data are becoming essential to improving cost certainty, project efficiency and sustainability. Ravi Kumar, Sales Director – India, RIB Software India, shares how digital workflows are reshaping project planning, commercial management and decision-making across the construction value chain.India's construction sector is embracing digital technologies at an unprecedented pace. From your perspective, what are the biggest shifts driving this transformation and how is RIB Software enab..