Sluggish Awarding To Slow Down Highway Construction In FY 26 Too: ICRA
ROADS & HIGHWAYS

Sluggish Awarding To Slow Down Highway Construction In FY 26 Too: ICRA

The sluggish pace of awarding of new highway projects for the past two years is expected to further bring down the pace of construction of new highways in the next financial year, according to a report. 

Already due to elections and prolonged monsoon the government had scaled down the target for highway construction by 15% in 2024-25 to 10,4121 km. “Road execution by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will decline by 5% in FY2026 to 9,500-10,000 km from the estimated road construction of 10,000-10,500 km in FY2025,,”the report by rating agency ICRA said. 

The awarding during April-December 2024 was subdued at 3,100 km, which is at the same level as last year significantly lower than the 5,835 km project awarded during April-December 2023. ICRA foresees road awards in the range of 8,500-9,000 km in FY2025, similar to that of FY2024. However, there has been some improvement in project awarding from November 2024 and if it sustains should result in 9-11% growth during FY2026. 

The National Highways Authority of India of India (NHAI) has raised Rs 83.53 billion through monetisation of highways through Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) mode this FY. Another ToT bundle will be monetised this year. Apart from another ToT bundle whose monetisation will be completed this financial year, the NHAI will raise around Rs 210 billion more from Highway Infrastructure Trust. Rest around Rs 100 billion from securitisation of stretches of Delhi Mumbai Expressway. 

The sluggish pace of awarding of new highway projects for the past two years is expected to further bring down the pace of construction of new highways in the next financial year, according to a report. Already due to elections and prolonged monsoon the government had scaled down the target for highway construction by 15% in 2024-25 to 10,4121 km. “Road execution by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will decline by 5% in FY2026 to 9,500-10,000 km from the estimated road construction of 10,000-10,500 km in FY2025,,”the report by rating agency ICRA said. The awarding during April-December 2024 was subdued at 3,100 km, which is at the same level as last year significantly lower than the 5,835 km project awarded during April-December 2023. ICRA foresees road awards in the range of 8,500-9,000 km in FY2025, similar to that of FY2024. However, there has been some improvement in project awarding from November 2024 and if it sustains should result in 9-11% growth during FY2026. The National Highways Authority of India of India (NHAI) has raised Rs 83.53 billion through monetisation of highways through Toll Operate Transfer (ToT) mode this FY. Another ToT bundle will be monetised this year. Apart from another ToT bundle whose monetisation will be completed this financial year, the NHAI will raise around Rs 210 billion more from Highway Infrastructure Trust. Rest around Rs 100 billion from securitisation of stretches of Delhi Mumbai Expressway. 

Next Story
Real Estate

Indian real estate attracts USD 1.4 bn institutional investments in Q1 2026: Vestian

Institutional investments in India’s real estate sector touched USD 1.4 billion in Q1 2026, marking the highest first-quarter inflow since 2022, according to Vestian. While investments fell 62 per cent quarter-on-quarter due to an exceptionally high base in the previous quarter, they rose 74 per cent compared to the same period last year, reflecting sustained investor confidence despite rising geopolitical and macroeconomic challenges.Commercial real estate remained the key driver of investment activity during the quarter, accounting for 80 per cent of total inflows, sharply higher than 38 p..

Next Story
Infrastructure Transport

VECV crosses 1 lakh annual vehicle sales milestone in FY26

VE Commercial Vehicles (VECV), a joint venture between Volvo Group and Eicher Motors, has surpassed the 1 lakh annual sales mark in FY 2025–26, recording its highest-ever commercial vehicle sales performance. The company said it sold more than 100,000 vehicles during the year, marking a major milestone aligned with the original vision of the Volvo–Eicher joint venture.The strong performance was supported by demand across categories. Light and Medium Duty (LMD) trucks contributed 47,789 units, accounting for 46.1 per cent of total sales. Heavy Duty (HD) trucks recorded 26,867 units (25.9 pe..

Next Story
Technology

Rodic Digital & Advisory partners SatSure to deploy EO intelligence in public sector

Rodic Digital & Advisory (RDA), the strategic advisory and digital transformation arm of Rodic Consultants, has signed a strategic cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SatSure to jointly pursue opportunities in India’s public sector. The collaboration aims to integrate high-resolution Earth Observation (EO) data and geospatial AI into government workflows to strengthen monitoring, compliance, and operational decision-making across key sectors.The partnership combines SatSure’s Earth intelligence capabilities with RDA’s expertise in government digital transformation and ..

Advertisement

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Get daily newsletters around different themes from Construction world.

STAY CONNECTED

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement