Roadwork speeds up but will miss target

Road construction has once again picked up, with 1,442 km of highways readied in January -40% more than the 1,029 km laid in the same month last year when it was still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

- Subhash Narayan

The pace generated in January means the roads ministry has nearly touched its aspirational target of building 50 km of highways per day.

The ultimate aim is to take annual highway construction to over 18,000 km. That's a feat never achieved so far, but seems doable now with new construction techniques and measures to acquire land.

"These are best months (January to March) to achieve construction targets. Large amounts of unspent money, settlement of claims before financial year ending helps to mobilize funds for construction. I hope that the momentum gained now can be maintained," said P.C. Grover, director general, National Highways Builders Federation.

Even though highway construction reached record levels in January, construction activity for the entire financial year has remained sluggish.