The second-highest annual accomplishment, according to India’s Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, is to build 12,000–13,000 km of national highways in 2023–2024. 13,327 kilometers was the highest point in 2020–21. There had been 7,685 km constructed as of January 2024. With a target of 9,500 km, the ministry hopes to break the record for the most four-lane and access-controlled highway construction.
In 2023–2024, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways anticipates building 12,000–13,000 km of national highways, the second-highest amount of highway development in the nation.
The largest annual construction to date was 13,327 km in 2020–21; 10,855 km in 2018–19 was the second-highest. As of the end of January 2024, the ministry had finished construction on 7,685 kilometers. For FY ’24, it has set a construction objective of 13,814 km.
“We anticipate completing 4500–5000 km in the next two months, which will enable us to complete 12,000–13,000 km throughout the current fiscal year. Anurag Jain, the secretary of road transport and roads, stated on Friday that this will be the second-greatest accomplishment.
According to the Economic Times, Jain claims that the current fiscal year would bring with it the construction of the greatest number of four-lane roads in history as well as the highest number of speed or access restricted highways, with capacity augmentation estimated at 9,500 km, setting a record for the ministry.
“We have witnessed a 10% year-on-year growth up to January 2024, while the increase in four-lane highway construction is 16%,” he stated, noting that the number of four-lane and above roads being built currently stands at two and a half times the annual achievement of FY ’14.
Government data shows that 794 km of six- or eight-lane highways were constructed nationwide in the ten months of the current fiscal year, from April to January 2024. This is in contrast to 753 km in 2022–2023 and 715 km in 2021–2022.
In contrast, the length of the four-lang highways increased to 2,503 km between April and January of this year from 2,093 km in 2022–2023 and 1,684 km in 2021–2022. Meanwhile, the length of the two-lane road construction was 2,805 km, compared to 2,331 km in 2022–2023 and 2,269 km in 2021–2022.
Nonetheless, the lengthening of national highways has decreased, from 2,016 km in 2021–22 and 1,625 km in 2022–23 to 1,556 km in the current fiscal year’s April–January period. Secretary Jain continued, “This is because road strengthening is a cyclical process that typically picks up every five years.”
Jain continued by saying that the government is concentrating on getting rid of all black spots on roadways, attaining zero maintenance complaints, and zero arbitration.
“We are actively finalizing the detailed project reports of all such projects, and we hope to award all contracts for elimination of the remaining 3,000 black spots in June when the model code of conduct is lifted,” he stated, as per the Economic Times.
