Highway projects worth Rs 2.71 lakh crore hit by delays

National highway projects worth as much as Rs 2.71 lakh crore have run into delays because of reasons including holdups in land acquisition, inability to procure environmental clearances and disputes with contractors, illustrating the challenges impeding India’s attempt to fix its deficient infrastructure.

A total of 773 national highway projects spanning a length of 28,432 km are facing time overruns,according to data provided by the ministry of road transport and highways to Parliament on Thursday.

Maharashtra tops the list with Rs 59,401 crore worth of stuck projects, followed by Uttar Pradesh (Rs 27,176 crore), Bihar (Rs 18,071 crore) and Madhya Pradesh
(Rs 16,750 crore), the data showed.