The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has constructed 6,803 km of national highway (NHs) this financial year between April 1 and January 31 – 22.23 km per day on an average, slightly up from 21.84 km constructed per day in 2021-22 for the same period, official data shows.
According to the official documents seen by News18, MoRTH constructed 6,684 km up to January 31 in the financial year 2021-22. Apart from more construction, the Ministry has also stepped up the pace by awarding work. A total of 8,400 km of highways had been awarded this financial year up to January 31, a jump of 22% over the 6,883 km awarded during the same period in the last financial year.
Till December, the Ministry was reporting a slower pace of road construction when compared to the previous financial year. In the initial seven months of the current financial year, the Ministry constructed 4,060 km of national highways, nearly nine per cent drop compared to the previous year. In 2021-22, the Ministry constructed 4,450 km up to October, according to official MoRTH documents. That means the per-day construction of roads in India had dropped from 20.79 km/per day in 2021-22 to 18.97 km/day in 2022-23 during the April-October period.
By December-end, the Ministry constructed 5,337 km of national highways – 19.5 km per day.
In the 2020-21 financial year, which saw the Covid-induced lockdown, the Ministry constructed 13,327 km of national highways, a record. The average per-day construction also touched 36.5 km/day in 2020-21. In 2019-20, the Ministry constructed 10,237 km and in 2021-22, 10,457 km of NHs were constructed.
Speaking to News18, a Ministry official said that now that work is not being disrupted due to rains, it is picking up pace and they are confident that they will construct 12,000 km during this financial year, which will end on March 31.
“Road construction for national highways is badly impacted during the monsoon. With the long monsoon, the pace of construction was impacted for longer. In the later months, with fewer chances of rain, the pace picks up momentum and hence we can see this increase,” a Ministry official told News18.
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