Nitin Gadkari says the government aims to build 50-kilometer highways with a total length of 18,000 km in fiscal year 23

Construction of India’s national highway has slowed to 28.64km a day in 2021-22.

The Indian government is keen to increase its infrastructure spending and plans to build 18,000km of motorways across the country in fiscal 2022-23, said Minister of Highways, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari. He also said the government aims to build 50km of highway every day this fiscal year. He also said the government aims to complete the construction of a 2,000-kilometer national highway network by 2025.

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Speaking about the strategy, the Minister of Road Transport and Highways stressed that it is necessary to build world-class road infrastructure on time and purposefully. He tweeted that the government is looking to expand its national road network across the country by building 18,000km of roads in 2022-23 at a record speed of 50km a day.

The plan was unveiled after construction of India’s national highway slowed to 28.64km a day in 2021-22 due to interruptions related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a longer-than-usual monsoon in some parts of the country. Back in the 2020-21 fiscal year, the pace of construction of national roads in the country reached a record 37 km per day.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), which oversees the construction of national highways across India, last fiscal year awarded projects totaling 6,306km, while it was able to build 4,325km of motorways, the official statement said. “During fiscal year 22, the NHAI has awarded projects with a total length of 6,306 km of projects, the highest length awarded by the government in three years,” the statement said. The agency also reported that in fiscal year 22, NHAI built a total national highway length of 4,325 km, exceeding 4,218 km in fiscal year 21 and 3,979 km in fiscal year 2020.

Date of first publication: 6:46 AM IST on May 16, 2022