Government aims to build 45 km of roads a day in FY24

According to two people familiar with the development, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) has internally set a target of building at least 45 km of highways a day this year. At this pace, a record 16,000 km of roads will be developed in a year.

This ambitious target follows the failure of the ministry to reach its targeted road construction in the last two financial years after achieving a record 13,298 km at a rate of 36.4 km per day in the pandemic-hit year of 2020-21. The pace slowed down to around 29 kmph in FY22 and is predicted to remain unchanged in FY23. Data available till February 2023 shows that only 24 km of road work took place per day in the last financial year, resulting in 8,064 km of highway construction.

View Full Image

“Road construction will pick up pace in the current financial year as the award of roads has improved significantly in the last few months, and several projects where work was nearing completion, especially in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, will be operational soon Will be done. , If adverse weather patterns do not affect work this year, there will be a record level of commissioning of highways in FY24,” said one of the two people cited earlier.

While the government aims to achieve a daily construction rate of 45 km, the official target may be set slightly lower, closer to last year’s 12,200 km, as delays in approvals, land acquisition, and increased input costs make some unattractive Road projects can become an obstacle. Traffic estimation for investors.

Queries sent to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways remained unanswered till press time. But officials said 45 km is a modest target, and the actual work completed in FY24 could be higher.

All road construction agencies have been asked to expedite highway construction and resolve issues stalling speedy progress. The ministry is also expected to hold several high-level inter-ministerial meetings with state government officials to resolve challenges related to the project and start work immediately.

Union Government has increased the budgetary allocation of MoRTH by 36% 2.7 trillion, shows its commitment to complete delayed road projects. The government is also keen to finalize all important road projects ahead of the major state elections later this year and the 2024 general elections.

Highway construction in the pre-pandemic period of FY20 spanned 10,237 km at a daily rate of 28.04 km. The pace picked up during the first post-pandemic year (FY21), when the lockdown indirectly accelerated construction, resulting in a record 13,327 km of highways being built at a rate of 36.51 km per day. In FY22, the rate again slowed down to 10,457 km at 28.64 km per day.

For FY22, the road ministry had initially set a target of constructing 14,600 km of highways – or 40 km per day. However, it later revised the target to 12,000 km. Similarly, for FY23, the target remains low at 12,200 km, even though road minister Nitin Gadkari had earlier suggested that 18,000 km of highway construction at a daily rate of 50 km could be considered.