Nitin Gadkari inaugurates national highway projects worth 13,500 crore in Uttar Pradesh: Will the MoRTH achieve its annual highway construction target?

By: Yash Gupte

According to the Minister, building a route from Kushinagar to Lumbini will increase foreign travel to Buddhist tourist destinations. Later, on the same day, Nitin Gadkari also inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 9 National Highway projects in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh with an investment of more than Rs 3,500 crore.

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari recently inaugurated and laid foundation stone of 18 National Highway projects with an investment of more than Rs 10,000 crore in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. The 4-laning of Sonauli-Gorakhpur, according to Gadkari, will improve border protection along the international border. Bypass construction will allow the Gorakhpur Ring Road to be finished, easing traffic congestion in the city and facilitating the development of commercial and residential properties. According to the Minister, building a route from Kushinagar to Lumbini will increase foreign travel to Buddhist tourist destinations. Later, on the same day, Nitin Gadkari also inaugurated and laid foundation stones of 9 National Highway projects in Mahoba, Uttar Pradesh with an investment of more than Rs 3,500 crore. Gadkari also announced 4 laning of 258 km Ramvangaman road in Chitrakoot, 15 km 4-lane bypass at a cost of 200 crores, 18 km 4-lane bypass in Mahoba and 15 km 4-lane bypass in Artara along with 4-laning of 70 km stretch from Prayagraj to Mirzapur. He marked that the completion of the Jhansi- Orccha- Khajuraho stretch will provide a boost to the tourism.  

Considering the inauguration and laying foundation stones for National Highways projects worth Rs. 13,500 crore in Uttar Pradesh by Nitin Gadkari, India Tracker takes a look at the construction of national highways in the country.

According to official data, the nation's national highway construction rate slowed to 20.99 kilometers per day during the first nine months of the current fiscal year. In 2020–21, the nation's national highway (NH) construction rate had reached a record high of 37 kilometers per day. The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd (NHIDCL) are primarily responsible for the construction of national highways and expressways in India.

One of the major reasons behind the slowdown in the highway construction is being attributed to country’s prolonged monsoon season. Officials from the ministry and other field experts said that the prolonged monsoon in 2022 has created a lot of hurdles in the construction. Giridhar Aramane, secretary, ministry of road transport and highways while commenting on the slowdown in the construction activity said that “The construction of new highways has been slow in the first six-month period. The same trend has been seen in the past three years. If we relate the current numbers with same period last year, we have almost reached 90 percent levels. Construction generally picks up pace in the second half of the year and we are confident of constructing 12,000 km of highways this year."

The ministry has been able to construct 8,064 km national highways till February 2023. Simplifying this, it means that only 3/4th of the target has been met in the eleven months of the FY2022-23 as the target of highway construction in the current financial year is 12,000 km. Now, in order to achieve the target, the ministry has to undertake the completion of remaining 3,936 km till March 2023. This means that around 1/4th of the construction in current financial year is still pending. But according to experts, 50 km of new roads must be built every day in order to accomplish the desired goal. The government has never succeeded in doing this in the past. But it needs to be observed that there has been a massive increase in the pace of highway construction in the country. The ministry has been able to construct 1,261 km of national highways in the month of February 2023 as compared to 1,029 km in January 2023.

Source: Ministry of Road Transport and Highways

There is a slowdown in the construction of national highway in the current financial year as compared to the previous one. Nitin Gadkari, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, had stated in the monsoon session of the Rajya Sabha that India's road infrastructure will be equal to that of the United States by 2024. Citing instances of how the expressways will cut down on travel time, he had said that the travel time between major cities of India will be cut to less than half. He reiterated his statement recently at the 95^th annual convention of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FICCI). He said that “We are making the world standard road infrastructure in the country and promising you that before the end of 2024, India’s road infrastructure will be equal to the standard of the USA.” But the data shows a different reality as the highway construction in India slows down. Also, the data clearly suggests that the central government is set to miss its target of constructing 12,000 km of national highways in the country.

It must be noted that the construction of length of national highways in the country is higher than the award figure. For example, the construction of highways in the month of February stood at 8,064 km as compared to the award figure of 7,497 km. This means that the ministry surpassed the award figure by constructing higher length of highways. Though the highway construction in India has witnessed a slowdown, the sincere efforts taken by the government in constriction of highways and expressways across the country cannot be ignored.