The national highway construction bucked the trend in this fiscal year with 37 per cent year-on-year growth in September, according to official data.
The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) constructed 647 kilometres (kms) of highways in the month, which is the second-highest that they’ve managed this fiscal year. The highway construction was witnessing a decline the previous months. In the first half of the year, the ministry has constructed 3,559 km as against 3,824 km in the previous year.
While the highway construction is beginning to show signs of revival, it still is nowhere close to the ministry’s official target of 12,000 kms for this fiscal year and even farther from the 18,000 km aspirational target set by the Union Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari. The current pace of construction is 20 kms a day, while the official target requires daily construction of at least 35 kms.
Earlier this week, road transport and highways secretary Giridhar Aramane had said the extended monsoons and floods in several parts of the country had contributed significantly to slower highway growth.
Highway growth typically picks up pace in the second half of the year, with increased infrastructure spending and weather conditions favouring construction. The ministry had constructed 10,237 kms in 2019-20, 13,327 kms in 2020-21, and 10,457 kms in 2021-22.
Meanwhile, the awarding of highway contracts stood at 4,092 kms during April-September against 4,609 kms during the year-ago period.
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