National highway construction hits record 31.87 km per day in December

New Delhi: The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) touched a record 31.87 kilometre per day average of national highway construction in December. “In the month of December, the highway construction under the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways was 956 kilometres, giving an all-time high average of 31.87 kilometres per day of road construction. At the current pace, we are hopeful of meeting this fiscal year’s road construction target of 12,000 kilometres,” a senior government official said on the condition of anonymity.

However, the average road construction for national highways remained at around 25 kilometres per day till the end of the first three quarters of the current fiscal year, the official added. According to the latest data of the road ministry, national highway construction in the country for the first three quarters of the current fiscal year was 5,800-5,900 kilometres.

The road ministry headed by Nitin Gadkari had fixed a construction target of around 16,420 kilometres for 2018-19. Out of this, 9,700 kilometres were MoRTH’s responsibility, while the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) were given targets of 6,000 kilometres and 720 kilometres, respectively. Last fiscal year, 9,829 kilometres of national highways were constructed.