Government is looking at awarding 10,000 km of highways in the current fiscal as it tries to meet the construction target of 30 km of roads per day during the next two years, Parliament was informed today.
In 2013-14 and 2014-15 fiscal, government had awarded highway projects for 3,621 km and 7,972 km respectively, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways P Radhakrishnan said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
"It has been planned to award about 8,500 km per year to meet the construction of 30 km highway per day during the next two years. The target for award for the year 2015-16 is about 10,000 km," he added.
In a separate query in the House, the minister said there is a need to award 8,500-9,000 km of road projects during the next 3-4 years.
"The projects awarded last year generally have a construction period of three years for its completion," he added.
In another question in Rajya Sabha, Radhakrishnan said during 2014-15 fiscal 4,410 km of highways have been laid out under various schemes of the Ministry at rate of about 12 km per day.
In yet another query, the Minister said the target for construction are fixed under various schemes of the Road Transport and Highways Ministry and not state wise.
In the data presented by the minister before the House, the government had targeted constructing 6,187 km of highways in 2012-13 fiscal, 6,330 km in 2013-14 and 6,300 in 2014-15.
On delay in projects, Radhakrishnan said some projects have been delayed "due to land acquisition, utility shifting, poor performance of contractors, environment/forest/wildlife clearance, public agitation for additional facilities" among other issues.
