NEW DELHI: National Highway (NH) construction will be around 13,000 km by Mar this year and all NH stretches in plain terrains will be made at least two-and-half lanes in the next 4-5 years, Union road transport secretary Anurag Jain said on Friday.
Citing how huge government investment with more than 9-fold increase in budget allocation over the last 10 years has accelerated highway construction, he said the share of single-lane highways has come down to barely 10% of the entire 1.1 lakh km NH network compared to 30% in 2014-15. “We are building more highways that are four-lane and above, and expressways. In the past 10 years, the length of NHs that are of four lanes or more has increased by 2.5 times, from 18,371 km to 46,720 km. We will need robust capital for development of road infrastructure over the next 10-12 years to bring it at par with developed nations. We are also confident of a significant increase in private investment,” he said.
Jain said that the NH construction this year so far is progressively more than that of the corresponding period last year. Officials said by Jan end, the overall construction was around 7,000 km and going by the past trend the final figure by the end of this financial year would be little more than 13,000 km. Last year, a total of 10,331 km of NH was constructed.
Budget data show that the total allocation for the road transport and highways ministry has increased from barely Rs 31,130 crore in 2013-24 to Rs 2.78 lakh crore for 2024-25. The overall investment in the highway sector, which includes private investment as well, has increased from Rs 59,135 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2023-24.
The road transport secretary said the new NH projects will be funded through a mix of govt and private investment. “Now we are not awarding any project before getting 90% land and the policy issues that have often led to claims, disputes and arbitrations are being addressed expeditiously. These will encourage private investment,” he added. The ministry also targets to raise around Rs 40,000 crore from asset monetisation during 2024-25.
Citing how huge government investment with more than 9-fold increase in budget allocation over the last 10 years has accelerated highway construction, he said the share of single-lane highways has come down to barely 10% of the entire 1.1 lakh km NH network compared to 30% in 2014-15. “We are building more highways that are four-lane and above, and expressways. In the past 10 years, the length of NHs that are of four lanes or more has increased by 2.5 times, from 18,371 km to 46,720 km. We will need robust capital for development of road infrastructure over the next 10-12 years to bring it at par with developed nations. We are also confident of a significant increase in private investment,” he said.
Jain said that the NH construction this year so far is progressively more than that of the corresponding period last year. Officials said by Jan end, the overall construction was around 7,000 km and going by the past trend the final figure by the end of this financial year would be little more than 13,000 km. Last year, a total of 10,331 km of NH was constructed.
Budget data show that the total allocation for the road transport and highways ministry has increased from barely Rs 31,130 crore in 2013-24 to Rs 2.78 lakh crore for 2024-25. The overall investment in the highway sector, which includes private investment as well, has increased from Rs 59,135 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 2.23 lakh crore in 2023-24.
The road transport secretary said the new NH projects will be funded through a mix of govt and private investment. “Now we are not awarding any project before getting 90% land and the policy issues that have often led to claims, disputes and arbitrations are being addressed expeditiously. These will encourage private investment,” he added. The ministry also targets to raise around Rs 40,000 crore from asset monetisation during 2024-25.
