Highway construction at an all time high

Growing 74% on year in April-May of the current financial year to 1,470 km or 24.1 km/day despite the difficulties created by the pandemic, highway construction in the country is at an all-time high. The sharp year-on-year growth, though, is on a low base (14.1 km/day in April-May 2021). However, this growth indicates that the construction sector of the economy, which posted a recovery with 14.5% growth in gross value added (GVA) in Q4FY21, may somewhat retain the momentum in Q1 this fiscal.

According to estimates, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) built 790 km followed by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) (465 km) and National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation (215 km). As per MoRTH, national highway length has increased by 50% from 91,287 km, as of April 2014 to 1,37,625 km, as on March 20, 2021. There was also an 85% increase in the average annual project awards during FY15 to FY21.