Record highway build pace result of govt’s industry-friendly steps: Analysts

The record-breaking pace of highway construction in FY21– it touched an all-time high of 36.4 km/day in the year – is the result of a slew of industry-friendly measures that the government has taken during the pandemic year to ensure better cash flow to the contractors, analysts say.

Even though there was no construction in the first 20 days of April 2020 due to the Covid-induced lockdown, all executing agencies, including the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), together constructed a record of 13,298 km highways in 2020-21, up from 10,237 km in 2019-20.