Senior officials in the roads ministry stated that the Ministry of Road Transport & roads (MoRTH) is unlikely to reach its goal of awarding contracts for 14,000 km of national highways.
Even though less than three months remain in the 2023–24 fiscal year, the 13,814-km highway construction target seems unrealistic, officials said.
A report in The Print said that only 6,217 km of new highways had been built by December 2023, although Union road secretary Anurag Jain is confident of achieving the target.
“We will award approximately 10,000 km of new highways for construction in the 2023-24 fiscal. We are working to expedite the detailed project reports (DPRs) of all projects,” Jain was quoted as saying.
Jain added that the ministry has reassessed its strategy and is focusing on access-controlled high-speed highway corridors as part of Vision 2047, the next phase of highway development after the Bharatmala Pariyojana programme.
For context, an access-controlled highway is designed for high-speed vehicular traffic where all traffic flow is regulated.
The Modi government started the first phase of the Bharatmala programme in 2017 to develop 34,800 km of highways running through economic corridors, manufacturing hubs and border and coastal areas by this year, The Print report added. Since the project is behind schedule, a new deadline has been set for 2027-28.
Until now, 27,384 km of new highway projects have been awarded for construction. Of these, 15,045 km have been constructed. Around 8,000 km of projects under Bharatmala-I are yet to be awarded.
