Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!
India’s highway construction slows down
- The government built 10,237km of highways in pre-pandemic FY2020 at a rate of 28.04km per day
Signals of a slowdown in India’s road sector seem to be getting stronger with highway construction reaching only a fourth of the annual target in the first six months of the current financial year.
Construction up to September this year has been a mere 3,559 km compared to a target of 12,000 km in FY23, showed the latest data from the ministry of road transport and highways. This is less than even the 3,824 km constructed in the same period of pandemic-hit FY22.
The slowdown is not restricted to construction but is seen also in the award of new projects. Only 4,092 km of projects have been awarded in the first six months of the current fiscal compared to 4,609 km of highways awarded in the April-September period of FY22.
“The construction of new highways has been slow in the first six-month period. The same trend has been seen in the past three years. If we relate the current numbers with same period last year, we have almost reached 90% levels. Construction generally picks up pace in the second half of the year and we are confident of constructing 12,000 km of highways this year,” said Giridhar Aramane, secretary, ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH).
Construction of 11,000 km of highways would be business as usual this year and the shortfall would only be for 1,000 km, Aramane said. “It is not difficult to catch up 1,000 km of construction in last six months and if there are no unseasonal rains this year or any other big disruptions, the target of 12,000 km for FY23 would be reached,” he said.
The government is banking on new road constructions in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, nearing competition at many places, to plug any gaps in construction this year. About 500 km of highways are also proposed to be completed in a few days.
However, experts are sceptical about the work being completed as 50 km of road would have to be constructed every day to reach the 12,000 km target in time and this is a number that has never been achieved by government agencies.
The government constructed 10,237 km of highways in the pre-pandemic period of FY20 at 28.04 km per day. This increased substantially in the first year of the pandemic when the country saw lockdowns, which indirectly helped speed up construction. That year (FY21), a record 13,327 km of highway were built at 36.51 km per day. Last year (FY22) the pace again slowed down to 10,457 km at 28.64 km per day.
Disruptions from the pandemic and an unusually long rainy season prevented the National Highways Authority of India from completing the targeted 12,000 km last year and this continues, officials said.
“The 12,000 km we are going to build will be dominated by complex projects involving building six lane, eight lane and access control highways,” one of the officials said.
Catch all the Industry News, Banking News and Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess
First Published:20 Oct 2022, 01:12 AM IST
- Top Gainers
- Top Losers
- 52 Week High