Highway construction may surpass goal

More than 8,000 km of national highways were built from 1 April 2020 to 15 January 2021, an increase of 8% over the same period in the last financial year, the road transport and highways ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The government is hopeful that this pace of work should allow it to surpass the financial year target of 11,000 km by 31 March, despite covid-19 related challenges, the ministry added.

“The ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) has created a record by constructing 534 km of national highways in the week commencing 8 January. The government has constructed 8,169 km of national highways from April 2020 to 15 January 2021 in the current financial year 2020-21, with a speed of about 28.16 km per day. During the same period in the last fiscal, 7,573 km roads were constructed, with a speed of 26.11 km per day,” the government statement noted.