Highway construction fell by 24% in FY 22, awards up by 14%

NEW DELHI: The total construction of National Highways (NHs) touched 10,457 km during 2021-22, a decline of nearly 24% than the previous year while different agencies under the road transport and highways ministry bid out works for construction of 12,731 km NH stretches, which is nearly 14% more than 2020-21.
The slow down in construction to 28.64 km per day was attributed to the second surge of Covid-19 pandemic which was severe and forced the construction companies to demobilise their manpower from the work sites. Another reason was prolonged monsoon in some parts of the country, officials said. In 2020-21, the pace of NH construction had touched a record 37 km per day.
The official data show that the two agencies of the highways ministry — NHAI and NHIDCL — performed better in both award and construction during the last financial year.