The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has constructed 6,803 km of National Highway (NHs) between 1 April and 31 January in FY 2022-23 as compared to 6,684 km constructed during the same period in FY 2021-22.
On a kilometer basis, this translates to 22.23 km per day on an average, slightly up from 21.84 km constructed per day in 2021-22 for the same period, shows official data.
Apart from laying more highways, the Ministry has also stepped up on awarding work.
A total of 8,400 km of highways have been awarded up to January in 2022-23 financial year, a jump of 22 per cent over 6,883 km awarded during the same period in the last financial year.
By the end of December 2022, the Ministry had constructed 5,337 km of national highways; 19.5 km per day.
Consistent Improvement
The pace of National Highways construction has increased consistently between 2014-15 and 2021-22 due to the systematic push through corridor-based National Highway development approach.
In the financial year 2020-21 which saw the Covid-induced lockdown, the Ministry constructed a record 13,327 km of national highways. In 2019-20, the Ministry constructed 10,237 km and in 2021-22, 10,457 km of NHs were constructed.
In 2014-15, the pace of NH construction was about 12 km per day which touched a record high of 36.5 km per day in 2020-21 and then declined to about 29 km per day in 2021-22.
The increase in average construction per day is a welcome change for the Ministry as it was reporting a slower pace of road construction until December last year.
With uptick in average construction and suitable weather across the country, the Ministry is confident of constructing 12,000 km national highways during this financial year, which will end on 31 March.