By Rajat Mishra
Highway construction in the country stood at 4,766 km till November-end this year, against the target to build 12,200 km of stretches during 2022-2023, union minister of road, transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari told the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
The ministry said the pace of construction was slower in the first half of 2022-2023 due to intervening monsoon but it picked up in the second half.
Also Read: Highway construction down 13% in April-Aug; 2,911 km built
Gadkari said that in April-November period of 2022-2023, around 2,038 km of 4/6/8 lanes national highways were constructed, which is higher than 1,806 km constructed in the year ago period.
The construction of 2 lane national highways stood at 1,607 km in April-November this year, against 1,747 km constructed in the corresponding period last fiscal.
Also Read: Nitin Gadkari says new infrastructure projects to cut down travel time, reduce logistics costs by 16%
The government is constantly monitoring sanctioned projects and as part of this exercise, 719 delayed national highway projects have been identified across various states, the minister said.
Out of 2,431 ongoing projects, around 719 are running behind the schedule across the country due to protracted monsoon, above average rainfall in some states, Covid-19 pandemic , increase in the prices of raw material, especially steel, issues relating to land acquisition, statutory clearances, among others.
The minister also clarified that no additional cost is being incurred because of the delayed projects.