National Highways construction slowed down in first 9 months; total 5.8k km built

Slowdown in highway construction due to elections and monsoon, with plans for barrier-free tolling on high-speed corridors by 2029.

Construction of new highways slowed down in the first nine months of the financial year 2024-25 as capital expenditure in major infrastructure sectors was affected due to the model code of conduct during the general elections as well as unusual patterns of the monsoon season.

A total of 5,853 km of national highways were built between April 2024 to December 2024. This was 5.83% slower than last year’s 6,215 km during the same period last year, noted the Economic Survey. The national highway construction achieved so far was 56% of the full-year target of 10,421 km for FY 2025.

“As the electoral process settled, capital expenditure saw an uptick in July-November 2024. Capex in infrastructure sectors is expected to gain further momentum in the remaining months of the current fiscal. On an average, ministries related to infrastructure sectors utilised 60% of the budgeted capex during April to November 2024,” it added.

In order to promote seamless movement of traffic, the government has also targeted the rollout of barrier-free tolling on National Highways with more than four lanes and high-speed corridors by FY 2029.