Highway contract awarding gathers pace in current fiscal

The rate at which contracts are being awarded for building national highways has gathered pace, overtaking pre-covid numbers as lockdown restrictions are eased and manpower returns.

The government awarded contracts for 5,697km of highways during April-October, an increase of 1.9 times over the same time a year ago.

Highway construction too is gradually gaining momentum and is close to last year’s gains, a senior government official said. As much as 4,628km of roads have been constructed in the seven months of the current financial year, compared with around 5,100km during the same period a year ago, according to the official. The target for the financial year 2020-21 is 11,000km.