New Delhi Highway construction in India declined by 32% in April from a year ago, in a blow to the government’s ambitious plan to build more cross-country highways and spur economic growth.
According to the data of the Ministry of Road Transport, only 578 km of highways have been built in the first month of the current financial year. It marks a sharp return from the government’s target of building 50 km per day of highways a year through March 2023, up from less than 30 km last year.
While the government did not give any reason for the weak performance in April, a road transport ministry official said the disruption from the omron wave and prolonged monsoon prevented the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) from completing the 12,000 km targeted last year. gave. , with the trend continuing in April.
“Things should improve in the coming months as rewards and construction pick up pace. The real pickup can be seen in the second half of the year post monsoon.”
The ministry’s latest data showed that 578 km of national highways were built in April, a sharp drop from 853 km a year ago. The award figure during the month stood at 201 kms, down from last year’s 311 kms.
The silent April performance tracks a decline of over 20% in the construction of national highways in the previous fiscal from 13,327 km in FY11 to 10,457 km.
This may make it difficult for the government to reach its target of building 12,000 km of highways in the current fiscal unless the pace of construction picks up in the coming months. Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had said that the government is committed to expand the national highway network with an aim to build 18,000 km of national highways in this financial year at a record speed of 50 km per day.
Gadkari had tweeted last Thursday that the overall target is to develop 200,000 km of national highways by 2025.
The road ministry had originally set a target of 14,600 km of highways in 2021-22 – or 40 km of construction per day – up from the previous year’s target of 13,327 km. Later it was reduced to 12,000 km.
According to government data, highway construction fell to the lowest in four years at 21.3 km per day during April-November FY22, before rebounding in March, when more than 2,400 km of highways were built, compared to an average of 25.8 in the same year. km/day was. period in FY21.
It was 24.8 km/day in FY20 and 24 km/day in FY19 – both pre-pandemic years when construction was gaining momentum.
The slow pace of highway development in the last financial year was unexpected, given that the sector had earlier continued its strong performance despite several disruptions.
In a normal year, construction picks up pace after the monsoon, but in the year following the third wave of COVID after the extended monsoon, there are rewards and construction delays in March. Senior ministry officials said that in FY 2013, around 12,000 km of national highways could be constructed, which is close to 33 km per day. The government aims to take daily construction to 50 km per day, but officials indicated a wait of at least two years would be needed for that to happen.
Queries sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways on Sunday evening did not elicit any response till press time.