 "Highway construction to be around 12,000-13,000 km in FY24: Road secy")
The overall highway construction in the country would be around 12,000-13,000 kilometres by the end of this financial year (FY24), a senior official at the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) said here on Friday.
Anurag Jain, secretary MoRTH said while the overall construction is lower than what was targeted at the beginning of the financial year, the capacity augmentation and widening of existing highways to four lanes would touch a record high. The ministry had set a target of 13,800 km of road construction for 2023-24.
Jain said the monthly road construction is showing positive signs despite extended monsoons. He said a stricter review process of the projects, and follow-up meetings with the state governments might have slowed down the construction but has improved the quality of the roads across the country.
“Since December 2023, the pick-up in construction happened which is now evident in January. Like every year, these last three months will witness bulk construction. We are expecting close to 4,500-5,000 km of construction in these two months (February-March, 2024),” Jain said.
He said in an optimistic scenario, it can touch 13,300 kms but the model code of conduct before the general elections might also impact the overall construction activity.
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“This is the year we will have the highest ever four-lane and high-speed access control road construction. So even if the total construction is not the highest ever, the quality of the roads if you measure in terms of widening and speed, this is the highest ever,” Jain said.
The secretary told this paper in an interview earlier this month, “The vision now is not just to look at national highways in terms of number of kilometres, but quality as well. Highways with four lanes and more have increased by 2.5 times to 46,720 kms, while those with two lanes or less have halved to 14,350 kms, which are now only 10 per cent of the total highway network.”
After the awarding of new highway projects halved in 2023-24, MoRTH had conveyed to the Union Cabinet that the lag in approving the revised proposal of its flagship highway development programme, Bharatmala Phase-1, whose estimated cost has doubled to more than Rs 10 trillion, this paper reported in November 2023. In its monthly report to the Cabinet, the ministry said awarding national highway projects between April and October had seen a dip of 48 per cent, the report said.
The ministry is currently drafting ‘Vision 2047’ which would shape the future planning and tendering of road projects, Jain said, adding that the projects which are now being awarded are aligned with the vision. Logistics efficiency through more access-controlled highways and high-speed corridors is one of the main purposes of the vision. Predictive analysis tools are also being utilised to forewarn about the immediate issues in ongoing projects and planning of future ones, he added.