Roads missed the target for the second year also, the government directed to investigate the data

These people said that less than 11,000 km of roads could be built in FY23, which is less than the annual target of 12,200 km. In the pandemic-year FY22, only 10,457 km of highways were built against a target of 12,000 km.

However, some figures may not yet be reflected in the data, including those roads which are almost complete but not commissioned and those which have been affected by delays due to late statutory clearances.

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One of the two persons cited above said that the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), the lead road construction agency, has been asked to provide all data on highway construction and awards, including completion.

Data from other road development agencies such as National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corp Ltd (NHIDCL), Indian Road Construction Corporation (IRCC) and Border Roads Organization (BRO) will also be studied afresh to check whether the FY23 numbers are somewhat whether missed by roads or something. Almost completed projects.

The officials want to be absolutely sure for the year before it is released officially.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) releases monthly data on road construction and awards in the second week of the following month. However, the figures for March have not been released yet.

Queries sent to NHAI and MoRTH remained unanswered. Officials said privately that the final numbers would be released soon.

While officials did not give any reason for the slow pace of construction in the past two years despite a strong economic recovery after the pandemic, they said the NHAI could cut its budget by using a part of the government’s budgetary allocation. own debt that has exceeded 3 trillion.

Officials said this year’s poor performance could also be due to Omicron wave and prolonged monsoon.

Deloitte India Partner Kushal Kumar Singh said, “The pace of highway construction has slowed down to a great extent over the past few years due to the disruptions caused by the first wave of Covid-19 that hit the country in 2020.”

“A project generally follows a cycle of 12-18 months for completing the DPR (Detailed Project Report), selecting a developer and achieving financial closure. After that, actual construction takes another 2-3 months. May take years. Hence, the disruptions in 2020 have affected the project cycle resulting in lower construction in FY22 and FY23. Things should be much better in FY24 as many of the 2020 projects are now nearing completion,” he said.

The official cited above said that with the abundance of funds by the government to complete the roads at a faster pace, visible changes could be seen next year with a record high construction.

Road construction data shows that till the end of February, 8064 km of highways were commissioned in the country, including 1,200 km in the month of February and just over 1,000 km in January. Even if this pace continues and last year’s figures are concerned, a maximum of 10,500 -11,000 km would be possible in FY23. The government built 10,237 km of highways at 28.04 km per day in the pre-pandemic period of FY20. This increased substantially in the first year of the pandemic when the country saw a lockdown, which indirectly helped speed up construction.

That year (FY21), a record 13,327 km of highways 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. The year FY23 is expected to end with construction of 29 km/day, while MoRTH wants the construction to reach 45 km/day in FY24 with construction of over 16,000 km.