India's Road Transport Ministry aims to build a record 13,813 km of highways in FY24, surpassing previous years' achievements. This ambitious plan will significantly improve India's road infrastructure, eliminating less than two-lane national highways by 2027-28.
Photograph: Kind courtesy National Highway Authority Of India/X
New Delhi, Feb 2 (PTI) The Road Transport and Highways Ministry aims to create a national record by constructing 13,813 km of highways in the current financial year, Secretary Anurag Jain said on Friday.
Addressing reporters here, Jain said the ministry aims to eliminate less than two-lane national highways by 2027-28.
The total length of less than two-lane National Highways (NH) was 25,517 km in March 2012 (which was 30.1 per cent of the total length). At present, the total length of less than two-lane NHs is 14,350 km (9.8 per cent of the total length)
The ministry constructed 10,237 km National Highways in the 2019-20 financial year, 13,327 km in 2020-21, 10,457 km in 2021-22, 10,331 km in 2022-23.
The ministry has constructed 6,216 km of NH up to December in the ongoing fiscal as compared to 5,774 km constructed in the year-ago period.
Jain further said the road ministry aims to garner Rs 40,000 crore through asset monetisation in the current financial year.
Going forward, there will be more private investment for road projects, he said.
According to Jain, in the next 10-12 years, India's road infrastructure will match developed countries' road infrastructure.
Jain said the new road projects will be funded through a mix of government and private investment and the soon-to-be-firmed-up model concession agreements will ensure that there is no scope for interpretation, thereby bringing in transparency and reducing arbitrations.
Commenting on the next phase of national highway development in the country, Jain said all future projects are being aligned with the PM's broader vision for a Viksit Bharat by 2047.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday marginally increased the allocation to the state-owned National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to Rs 1.68 lakh crore for 2024-25 from last year's revised allocation of Rs 1.67 lakh crore.
The pre-election Budget 2024-25 document has allocated a marginally enhanced outlay of Rs 2.78 lakh crore for the highways sector.
An allocation of Rs 2.70 lakh crore was made for the highways sector for 2023-24, which was revised to Rs 2.76 lakh crore
NHAI and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways in the country.
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